Fire and Ice
by Empress of the Eclipse
Summary: Three years after Season 2, the Digidestined have returned to the Digital World. But how can they save the Digital World when they don't know what they are really fighting? And when two of their team members can no longer work together. TAITO! PART 10 UP!
1. Have You Ever Wondered...?

Fire and Ice  
Have You Ever Wondered....?  
By Starrysapphire, Taito Empress  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon and probably never will. I make no money from this and only write it for my own satisfaction.  
  
TAITO as usual. Yaoi. I've warned you, don't you dare pretend that I haven't.  
  
IMPORTANT! READ THIS OR YOU WON'T GET THE STORY!!!!!!  
Right, Season 2 has finished (I don't know what's possessed me to include Season 2, I've seen ONE episode and probably won't be seeing anymore for months thanks to CITV's crappy schedules) and a couple of years have passed. Joe's eighteen, Tai, Matt and Sora are seventeen, Izzy and Mimi are sixteen, Yolei's fifteen, Davis, TK, Kari and Ken are fourteen and Iori's thirteen. I've guessed with a couple of ages but I'm hoping it's right (I'm assuming that Yolei's older than TK and co. and Iori's younger than them. And I'm using the Japanese name Iori quite simply because, he is NOT a Cody and Cody's a fairly crap name anyway. Also, it'll piss Saban off). Anyway, they've all returned to the Digiworld to save it again. To be completely honest, I haven't got a clue whether the old Digidestineds can still digivolve normally and to even more honest, I couldn't give a damn. This is my own alternate reality and they all can digivolve damn it! Also, they only S2 Digimon I know are Veemon and Flamedrmon of whatever. So I won't be mentioning their names or attacks.  
Additional note - I don't give two damns what was said at the end, Matt and Sora are NOT dating dammit!  
  
Tai sighed and leaned back against the tree he'd chosen to sleep against. Around him, the other Digidestined were fast asleep. But he was restless. He wasn't sure what was keeping him awake but something was bothering him and he just couldn't doze off.  
Maybe it was being back in the Digiworld after so long. Maybe it was just worry about everyone else. Whatever it was, Tai didn't like it.  
They hadn't been expecting to return to the Digital World. They'd been having a sort of reunion in the original summer camp which had led to the original Digidestined arriving in the Digital World the first time. Then the sky had literally opened, drenching them all with a torrent of rain. As they'd run for shelter, Tai had felt a strange sensation like he was being lifted up, thrown into the air and landing in the exact same place.  
Only he hadn't been in the exact same place. He'd been standing up to his ankles in a lake in the Digital World, the others all standing nearby looking confused. Then the Digimon had arrived which had been great but they couldn't help wondering what they'd been pulled back for. The Digimon didn't know of anything particularly dangerous that was happening although a few Digimon seemed to have been fighting more often recently. But that was nothing, could be attributable to the unusual amount of heat that they'd been having in the Digital World recently.   
That had been two days ago. And they still didn't know why they'd returned to the Digital World.  
Glancing over the group, Tai noticed that although Gabumon was there, Matt wasn't. Now he listened, he could hear the faint strains of Matt's harmonica echoing in the distance. Scrambling to his feet, Tai moved in that direction. Maybe talking with Matt would help clear his head a little.  
He found Matt sitting beside the nearby lake. Quietly he sat down next to his friend. Matt stopped playing and glanced at him before turning back to looking at the still water. He hadn't changed much since they were fourteen. He had grown a few more inches and his face looked slightly more mature but mostly, he hadn't changed. Tai couldn't help noticed that his eyes had always stayed the same though the years. A deep blue, ranging from icy when he was angry or morose to an azure colour when he was feeling happy or relaxed. At that moment they were icy.  
"Still go off and mope with your harmonica?" Tai joked.  
Matt snorted but didn't say anything. Tai sighed.  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.  
"Nothing," Matt said "I just wanted to be alone for a little while, that's all."  
Tai nodded understandingly. He knew that Matt still needed some alone time no matter how much more relaxed he'd got around the Digidestined group.  
"What about you?" Matt asked, still not looking at Tai.  
"I'm just worried," Tai admitted "I don't know what we're fighting and I worry about the younger ones. It bothers me being left dangling like this."  
Matt just nodded, still not looking at Tai. It made Tai feel a little uneasy and slightly confused. Why wouldn't Matt look at him? Had he done something wrong?  
"Matt, what's wrong?" he asked "I know it's more that you've told me."  
Matt paused.  
"Tai," he said suddenly in a low voice "You've kissed lots of girls haven't you?"  
Tai nodded. He was pretty popular in school and girls liked him. He'd had lots of girlfriends but none really serious.  
"Yes," he said uncertainly, wondering what Matt was getting at.  
"Have you ever wondered whether it would be different with a boy?"  
Tai paused, his brain reeling with shock.  
"No..." he said, startled to find that his voice was low and husky.  
Matt turned, his eyes staring into Tai's. Tai found himself unable to look away.  
"Wouldn't you like to find out?"  
Before Tai could respond, Matt reached out and took Tai's shoulders and kissed him gently, his hands stopping Tai moving away. Tai froze in absolute confusion. Matt was kissing him. Yamato Ishida, the boy he'd known for years and years as a best friend was kissing him like they were far, far more than just friends. Matt was right, Tai had kissed a lot of girls. But this felt different to all of them.  
Almost instinctively, Tai leaned into the kiss, returning it. Matt instantly tightened his grip, pulling Tai even closer to him. He broke off slightly, letting Tai breathe but kept kissing him lightly before pulling him into another long passionate kiss. Tai still wasn't sure, didn't know if he understood what was happening to him but it felt so nice, was so easy to lose himself in Matt's arms, not to think or worry about anything....  
A scream shattered the still night air, causing the two of them to jerk away from each other. For a second they just stared at each other. Then as the scream echoed again from the direction of their camp. Turning, they ran back to the camp.  
"TAI!"  
It was Kari. She sounded terrified.  
"I'm coming Kari!" Tai shouted. Together, he and Matt skidded into the clearing. Then they stared.  
Looming over them was a huge Digimon. It appeared to be some sort of wolf animal with giant teeth and claws. It snarled at them. One of it's great grey paws was pinning Kari to the floor. The Digimon had all digivolved except Agumon and Gabumon who were helpless without Tai and Matt. The wolf-Digimon bent down and snapped at Kari. She tried to roll away with another scream.  
"Kari!" Tai cried.  
Behind him, the other Digidestined were gathering.  
"Where were you?" Davis shouted angrily.  
Tai could feel himself blushing guiltily. He swallowed.  
"Agumon!"  
Agumon warp-digivolved to WarGreymon.   
"Terraforce!" he shouted.  
The wolf-Digimon dodged. Kari finally broke free and threw herself into the safety of the others. Blood trickled from grazes and cuts but she looked all right.  
"Full Moon Claw!" the wolf-Digimon shouted.  
WarGreymon was sent spinning backwards as the claws struck him. Tai winced in sympathy. The other Digimon were attacking but they didn't seem to affect the wolf-Digimon at all. But it was backing off. Then it turned to face them.  
"Know this Digidestined!" it cried. It's voice was decided feminine and very sweet sounding. It would undoubtedly be a great singer "I am Fenrirmon! Remember my name for I will be back to destroy you! When you least expect it, when you are least prepared, I will strike and pick you off one by one!"  
Then she - it had to be a she - turned and bounded away. Tai instantly turned to Kari.  
"Are you okay?" he asked her.  
Before she could reply, Davis turned on him.  
"Of course she's not okay!" he shouted "That thing was squashing her! She could have died! And you weren't here! Where the hell were you?"  
Tai could feel tears pricking at his eyes.  
"We....I was....talking....with Matt," he said slowly. Just saying Matt's name made him burn with shame. If he hadn't been so wrapped up in Matt, maybe he'd have heard something, got there quicker! God, why the hell had he done that? He wasn't gay, he didn't want any guy like that!   
He stared at Kari. Sora and Joe were busy examining her wounds. She looked up weakly and smiled.  
"It's okay Tai," she said "I'm all right."  
Tai gave her a small smile. He caught Joe's eye. Joe gave a sort of shrug. He was worried. Tai felt a pang of guilt.  
"We'd better set up watches for the rest of the night," Joe said, sounding firm "We need two as someone should keep an eye on Kari. I'll go on first watch with Tai. Then Matt and Sora, then Davis and Yolei and then Izzy and TK can finish up the night. Okay?"  
Everyone nodded. Slowly they settled down. Tai sat there, staring into the darkness, biting his lip fiercely. He was such a fool!  
"Tai?"  
It was Joe.  
"Is Kari okay?" Tai asked.  
Joe frowned unhappily.  
"I'm not sure," he said honestly "Her wounds don't look bad but I think she might have minor concussion. And..."  
He held out a handkerchief. There was some sort of black stuff on it.  
"This was around some of the cuts," he said.  
"Poison?" Tai whispered.  
"Maybe," Joe said "That's why I want people watching Kari all night. We need to know if..."  
His voice trailed away uncertainly and he shrugged. Tai gulped.  
"Thanks Joe," he said "You keep watch over her then."  
Joe patted his shoulder and went back over to Kari. He'd grown up a lot since the first trip in the Digiworld. He no longer jumped at everything he saw and was a mature, responsible person. It made Tai feel better to have him around.  
But only a little.  
"Tai?"  
It was Matt, whispering quietly so Joe wouldn't hear him. He was staring at Tai anxiously out of his sapphire eyes. Tai looked back.  
"Are you okay?" Matt whispered.  
"No," Tai said "Kari's..."  
"I heard," Matt said.  
Tai gulped. Then he pulled his gaze firmly away from Matt's.  
"I should have been here!" he said, his voice cracking "I should have been here to look after her!"  
"You can't blame yourself," Matt said comfortingly.  
"No," Tai said "I blame you."  
He heard Matt's sharp intake of breath but was too angry and miserable to care.  
"If I hadn't been with you, I'd have been able to help her!" he said "If you hadn't..."  
His voice trailed off. God, he couldn't believe he'd let Matt do that to him! He wasn't like that, he wasn't gay, he was straight, he was normal.  
"Tai," Matt said, his voice sounding small and shaky "I thought you..."  
"Wanted that?" Tai hissed. His guilt was turning into rage now and even though he vaguely knew that it was unfair, he continued anyway "No Matt. No way. Thanks to you, my sister could have died. What happened between us was wrong. And it's not going to happen again."  
"Wrong?" Matt said, his voice quavering slightly "Tai, it wasn't..."  
"It was!" Tai snapped "It was wrong and horrible and....and unnatural!"  
He knew that that was a terribly cruel thing to say but he didn't care. He thought he heard Matt give a small sob. Then he heard him move away and lie down, curling up next to Gabumon.  
Tai just kept staring out into the blackness of the forest, not letting himself think about Kari or Matt or anything.  
  
End of Part One.  
Comments? Complaints? Suggestions? Begging notes for me to continue? You know what to do! (See the box, write things in the box, Taito Empress pleased and passes blessings on you and read your stories if signed review).  
  



	2. Sickness and Bitterness

Fire and Ice  
Sickness and Bitterness  
By Starrysapphire, Taito Empress  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Believe me, I don't.  
As a note, I have NOT been playing Final Fantasy. Fenrir comes from Norse Mythology. So there. But thanks for noticing the name anyway. As an additional note, the Fenrir in Norse Mythology is male but there are already too many males in this programme! So I've changed Fenrir's sex. Sorry Fenrir! (So my grasp on reality is a bit warped. So what?)  
Oh and I've discovered that there's an author called Lokimon but I did this BEFORE I knew that and I'm sure that they won't mind me using their name....  
  
Tai stumbled over another tree root. Kari jerked in arms and whimpered. Tai whispered an apology to her and was even more careful. His toe hurt now and he was limping.  
It had been two days since Fenrirmon had attacked them and Kari had been steadily getting worse ever since. Joe had been right, the black stuff on Kari's wounds had been poison and now Kari was getting sicker by the hour. She was burning hot and terribly weak. She couldn't walk anymore and Tai was carrying her. They were still aiming for Gennai. Maybe he could help her.   
Tai swallowed and blinked, realising tears had come into his eyes. He couldn't cry, he couldn't. He had to look after Kari. It was his fault that she was even hurt. If he hadn't....  
Tai shoved that thought away. Thinking about what had happened with Matt was just too confusing. He didn't like it. He didn't think of Matt that way, he didn't! He wasn't gay!  
Tai was so busy thinking, he missed the next tree root and fell over it. Kari gave a groan.  
"Oh no!" Tai gasped, ignoring the pain stabbing though his knees "Kari, are you okay?"  
She looked at him. He noticed that her eyes were slightly glazed.  
"Uh huh," she said "I'm just raring to go."  
Tai swallowed.  
"Tai I think somebody else should carry her," Izzy said quietly "You've done enough."  
"No," Tai said "She's my sister, my responsibility."  
"Don't be silly," Izzy said "We all know you want to look after Kari but you're tired. Someone else should take a turn."  
"Most of you wouldn't be strong enough to carry her," Tai said.  
"I can carry her," Matt spoke up "I'm okay."  
Tai was surprised to hear Matt speak. Since that day Matt hadn't spoken to anybody except TK. He'd spent most of the time staring off into space, away in his own little world.  
"No thanks," Tai said coldly.  
Matt swallowed and slumped slightly. Only Izzy and Ken noticed this and both stored it up to think about later. Tai bent down to pick up Kari again. But Sora stopped him.  
"No," she said firmly "You're not to Tai. You're tired and you'll hurt Kari even more. I'll carry her for a bit."  
She hoisted Kari up into her arms. Kari just slumped against her. She seemed to be asleep. Tai swallowed unhappily but he didn't try to protest. He just started walking again, forcing his legs to continue. They hurt and glancing down, he saw that both his knees were bleeding. He had green stuff all over them as well where he'd hit the tree trunk and ground. He couldn't help limp a bit after a while.  
"Tai?"  
It was Matt. Tai ignored him but Matt suddenly called out.  
"Stop everybody! Tai's hurt!"  
Everyone turned and looked. Tai felt himself blush.  
"Tai!" Yolei said "Why didn't you say?"  
"I'm fine!" Tai snapped "They're just grazes!"  
He turned and glared at Matt "Why'd you have to stick your nose in anyway?"  
Matt's face slowly turned red.  
"I was just trying to help," he said stiffly.  
"Yeah? Well why don't you 'help' by pissing off and not shoving your oar in where it doesn't belong!" Tai shouted.  
Matt's fists clenched.  
"If you're hurt, you slow us down!" he shouted "If you want to help Kari as much as you say then you'll listen to us when we say things and stop acting like such a jerk!"  
"I'm acting like a jerk?" Tai yelled "You're the jerk round here!"  
"Me!"  
"Yes you!"  
"Come on you two," Joe began "Now's not the time..."  
Both boys ignored him. They were glaring at each other murderously. Tai suddenly punched Matt with all his strength. Matt went flying and hit the floor with a thud. He stared at Tai in shock, then threw himself at him, catching Tai full in the face with a well aimed fist. Tai angrily fought back and in a few seconds they were rolling around hitting each other.  
"Stop it!"  
"Quit being morons you two!"  
"That's enough!"  
"Tai, let go of him!"  
"Matt, Tai, stop it!"  
The boys ignored all their friends, intent on beating the living daylights out of each other.  
"Ahhhhhhh!"  
Kari's faint scream cut though Tai's furious red haze. Jerking away from Matt he looked. Sora was trying to hold Kari down. She was kicking and struggling, her face while with fear.  
"Stop them, stop them!" she was crying "Nooooo!"  
"Kari!" Tai gasped. Forgetting Matt, he ran over "What's the matter with her?"  
"She's hallucinating," Sora said grimly "Her fever's really, really high."  
Tai pressed his hands to Kari's forehead. He'd never felt anyone so hot.  
"Kari? Kari can you hear me?"  
She looked at him but her eyes weren't focused. She screamed again.  
"Get it away!" she cried "Get it away! It's a snake!"  
"Me?" Tai said in a small voice "Kari it's me Tai, your brother!"  
Kari continued to cry and wail and Tai backed off.  
"It doesn't mean anything," Sora said "It's just that at this moment, she can see a snake instead of you."  
"We have to do something now," Tai said "Joe, help her!"  
"I can't," Joe said "The only thing we can do is to try and cool her down and press on."  
They soaked Kari's socks in a nearby stream and draped them over her forehead. Then they grimly carried on, Tai carrying Kari's shoes. He walked on ahead of everybody, party so that they couldn't see his tears.  
* * * *  
The night was a fraught one. Kari got increasingly worse, crying out a lot of the time. Tai heard Joe saying to Izzy when they thought he was asleep that he didn't rate Kari's chances much if they couldn't do something soon. Tai just lay awake.  
Why had he gone off that night? If he hadn't done that, maybe Kari wouldn't be like this. Kari couldn't die....could she?  
Kari had gone quiet now. Tai could see that Matt was sitting with her. Frowning, he walked over. Matt looked up at him, then back at Kari.  
"She's resting now," he said quietly.  
Tai said nothing.  
"Listen Tai....I wanted to apologise for shouting at you before. I didn't mean..."  
"Shut up," Tai interrupted brutally. He heard Matt give a small gasp but he continued "I don't care why you did what you and I'm not interested in your apologies. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know you. If it was up to me, you wouldn't even be in this group."  
He kept watching Kari so he didn't have to see Matt's face. He knew that his former friend would be looking betrayed and unhappy but he didn't care. This was all Matt's fault.  
"Why do you hate me?" Matt said, his voice barely above a whisper "Why do you hate me?"  
"Because," Tai said "Because you're foul and unnatural and if it wasn't for you, my sister wouldn't be dying!"  
He turned and glared at Matt as he said this but he wasn't prepared for what he saw in Matt's eyes. They were filled with horror and utter desolation. He hunkered down, making himself smaller.  
"You can go to sleep," Tai said flatly "I'll watch over Kari."  
Matt crept backwards. He went over to Gabumon and buried his face in the Digimon's fur. Tai heard the Digimon mumble something unintelligible before going silent. Tai sat beside Kari, stroking her hair gently. He blanked out the strange little whimpering noises which he knew was Matt crying.  
* * * *  
"Hello."  
Tai blinked. He must have fallen asleep. He forced his eyes open and looked up.  
"Gennai!"  
His yell woke everybody except Kari. She wasn't moving. Even her chest was barely rising and falling anymore. Tai felt another stab of fear.  
"Gennai it's good to see you!" Sora said.  
"It's nice to see you too," Gennai said calmly "But I heard one of you was sick."  
Tai pointed to Kari. Gennai looked down at her.  
"Hmmm. This was Fenrirmon's poison?"  
"Yes," Tai said "Can you make her better?"  
"I can try," Gennai said "And I can tell you what's happening. Come on."  
He took them to a small hut which wasn't where he'd lived before. Apparently, he'd moved house. They all sat down while he gave Kari some sort of drink. She sputtered a lot but finally it was all down.  
"Now we'll just have to wait and see," Gennai said "She's a strong girl, she should pull though just fine." "So who's Fenrirmon?" Davis asked promptly.  
Gennai sighed.  
"A little while ago, five new Digimon entered this world," he said "Nobody knows exactly what they really are but the sky split open and out they came. They look like Digimon but they aren't. Not really. They have different attacks, strange attacks. And they never eat or drink. They never actually consume anything as far as we know. But they kill Digimon for sport and they're strong, far stronger than any Digimon I've ever seen before."  
"Who are the others?" Iori asked.  
"There's Fenrirmon, the one you've met. Then there's Jormungandmon, Helmon, Lokimon and Bartlebimon," Gennai said "It's further proof they don't come from here. The names are so strange. Jormungandmon is a serpent type Digimon who lives in the sea. The others roam wherever they like but Lokimon and Bartlebimon are rarely seen. They prefer to live in their castle."  
"And we have to defeat them?" Ken said quietly.  
"Yes," Gennai said "You must wait until Kari is fit and well and then you must fight them. But be careful. Fenrirmon, Jormungandmon and Helmon all have poisons of one type or another. I can give you an antidote but use it sparingly. It's very difficult to make."  
They all nodded. Gennai looked at them all.  
"Now you must all rest," he said "I'll wake you when the time is right."  
They all found themselves a floor spot and curled up in it. Tai slept quickly, absolutely exhausted after the action of the past several days. He slept soundly.  
Matt wasn't so lucky. He lay awake long after the others were sleeping.  
Foul? Unnatural? He wasn't any of those things was he? Okay, so he liked guys not girls. And he loved Tai. But that didn't make him....  
Matt could feel his tears running down his face. Why did Tai hate him so? He'd only tried to show Tai his feelings. It wasn't his fault what had happened to Kari. Why did Tai have to hate him? Why?  
Matt drew himself into a ball. He was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course Tai hated him now. Why had he told him? Tai was right, he was foul and unnatural and disgusting. He was a fool. Hoe could he have ever thought that Tai could love him back? No one had ever loved him. Not even his parents. Only TK and even TK didn't need him anymore. He was a freak.  
Matt brushed his tears away and pressed his face into his knees, trying to doze off. He loathed himself. No wonder nobody loved him. He was a freak and ugly and stupid. How could anybody love anyone like that?  
Matt dozed off into a sea of dark nightmares, his mind filled with bitterness.  
  
The end of Part 2  
Anything you wanna say? Suggestions are welcomed as is all positive feedbag. Flame me even (it's not like I've ever cared).  



	3. Confrontations

Fire and Ice  
Confrontations  
By Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I still don't own Digimon. It's not mine.  
  
The Digidestined were slowly walking though the forest. Tai was watching Kari who was walking along with Yolei.  
"Tai, stop staring at me," Kari said "I'm okay."  
She was. Her face was its normal colour and she wasn't shivering anymore. But Tai couldn't help worrying.  
"Sorry Kari," he said "I'm just nervous, that's all."  
Kari shrugged.  
"Stupid," she said fondly "I'm fine now."  
Tai touched his pocket where the small amount of antidote that Gennai had given them was. He didn't want to lose it. It was all they had.  
"It seems so quiet," Sora said "It's hard to believe that there are such evil Digimon around."  
"I know. It's weird," Tai said.  
"How can new Digimon just appear anyway?" Yolei said "It just doesn't make sense."  
"There's something familiar about them," Izzy mused "If I could just remember...."  
"You've only seen one of them," Joe said.  
"Not them personally," Izzy said "Just them as in their names. I'm sure I've heard them somewhere before."  
"Well we aren't gonna get anything done standing round here. Gennai said to go this way," Davis said cheerfully "So let's get moving!"  
Tai scanned the group, checking that they were all okay. He noticed that Matt was walking at the back, his shoulders slumped, lost in his own little world. Gabumon seemed to be trying to talk to him but Matt didn't even seem to notice. For a second, Tai nearly went over to talk to him. Then he stopped himself.  
"Come on everybody!" he ordered "Hurry up."  
They continued walking.  
* * * *  
"So those are the Digidestined?" Helmon said, looking at them scornfully "They don't look much of a problem."  
"They're a walkover," Fenrirmon said "Although they've healed the girl. It must have been that wretched Gennai person."  
She flexed her claws.  
"We have to kill him," she said.  
"Do you know anything about any of them?" Helmon asked, not interested in Gennai.  
Fenrirmon shrugged (in as much as a wolf could shrug).  
"Friendship is good," she said thoughtfully "You'll want him. Kindness will be another good one. Courage is a slightly interesting case. They're all useful really."  
"So for sharing?" Helmon said.  
"We'd better give Bartlebimon and Father the two extra," Fenrirmon said sounding a bit sad "I want Light. I nearly had her and I want her again. I also want Kindness."  
Helmon looked sulky.  
"I'm generous," Fenrirmon said, smiling, revealing huge fangs "You can have Friendship."  
Helmon's face brightened up. Her eyes glittered unpleasantly as she looked back at the Digidestined and at the one walking slowly behind them, his shoulders slumped.  
* * * *  
"We'd better take a break!" Davis announced.  
The Digidestined slumped down gratefully. Kari gave Tai a glare, daring him to ask if she was okay. Tai took the hint and didn't. TK suddenly tugged at his arm.  
"What's wrong TK?" Tai asked.  
"I think something's up with Matt," TK said "He won't talk to me."  
Tai scowled.  
"Oh," he said.  
TK gave him a puzzled look.  
"Will you go and talk to him?" he asked hopefully.  
"No," Tai said.  
TK looked shocked.  
"Why not? Matt's your friend!" he said.  
Tai shrugged. He didn't want to tell TK what had happened. But there was no way that he was going to go and talk to Matt.  
"Did you two have a fight?" TK asked.  
"Ask Matt," Tai said, deliberately turning his back on TK. He heard TK walk off.  
"Tai, what's wrong?" Agumon asked.  
"Nothing," Tai said, folding his arms stubbornly.  
Agumon looked puzzled but didn't press. Tai glanced at Matt who was staring off into the distance. He saw TK talking to Davis who stood up.  
"Right. What's going on?" he asked, with his usual lack of tact.  
Everyone looked up.  
"Between Tai and Matt," Davis added.  
"Nothing," Tai said haughtily.  
"Then why won't you talk to him? And why have you been avoiding him?" Davis demanded.  
"And why did you two start fighting before?" Sora asked "You haven't fought like that since we first came to the Digiworld."  
Matt said nothing. He seemed to be drawing further into himself.  
"C'mon you two, we have to work together here," Davis said "What's wrong?"  
"Ask Matt," Tai said "I'm not the one with a problem!"  
"I don't have a problem!" Matt yelled, leaping to his feet. Tai got up too and they glared at each other.  
"So what do you call it then?" Tai said cruelly.  
"It's not a problem!" Matt shouted, his face turning red "Why can't you understand?"  
"Understand what?" Davis demanded "What. Is. Going. On?"  
The two of them completely ignored him.  
"I do understand!" Tai yelled "You're a sick freak!"  
"I'm not a freak!" Matt yelled again. Tai could see tears glimmering in his eyes but he was too angry to even care.  
"You kissed me! What the hell do you think that makes you?"  
There were gasps from all the Digidestined. Matt's face went from red to white.  
"Tai....."  
"You're a freak!" Tai yelled "A disgusting, perverted freak!"  
"You kissed Tai!" Davis said, sounding startled "Wow."  
"I'm not a freak," Matt said, almost beggingly now "I can't help how I feel! It doesn't make me...."  
"What?" Tai demanded "You are a freak Matt! Boys are made to like girls, not each other!"  
Matt looked around. All the Digidestined were staring at him, expressions of shock on their faces. Even TK didn't say anything in his defence.  
"I...I..."  
"You're disgusting," Tai said, his voice filled with scorn.  
Matt turned and ran. No one called him back.  
* * * *  
There was silence after Matt ran. The Digidestined were all standing round, looking shocked and confused.  
"I don't understand," Agumon spoke up "What's wrong with Matt kissing Tai?"  
"It's disgusting, that's what!" Tai snapped.  
Mimi smacked him. Hard. Tai stepped back, blinking in shock.  
"Ow! What was....?"  
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Mimi shouted angrily "I never thought you were so bigoted!"  
"I'm not bigoted!"  
"So what do you call all that homophobic ranting then?" Mimi demanded.  
The others were beginning to wake up from their shocked silence now.  
"You shouldn't have said those things," Ken said.  
"There's nothing wrong with Matt," TK said.  
"He kissed me!" Tai said.  
"Tai," Kari said "Is that really what's making you so mad?"  
There was a pause. Tai looked at them.  
"When he kissed me, Fenrirmon attacked," he said "If he hadn't kissed me, I'd have heard and come back quicker. Kari wouldn't have got hurt. Thanks to him, Kari nearly died!"  
"That wasn't Matt's fault," Kari said "Even if you'd been there, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. And I didn't die anyway, so what's the problem?"  
Tai said nothing.  
"See?" Mimi said "You are bigoted!"  
Tai said nothing. He could feel blood coming into his cheeks.  
"But it's wrong for guys to kiss other guys," he said "It's unnatural."  
"I don't understand. Why is it unnatural?" Biyomon asked.  
"Because it is!" Tai yelled "Guys are supposed to like girls and have reproduce!"  
"Wow, you've actually been listening in science class!" Joe said sarcastically "Tai, that doesn't make homosexuality wrong!"  
"You've know Matt for years Tai," Izzy said "Why does him being gay make any difference?"  
Tai said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Some part of him knew that the others were right and he was wrong but he couldn't admit it.  
"I didn't hear any of you sticking up for him back there!" he snapped.  
"We were surprised," Yolei said "We didn't know what to say."  
Tai turned away.  
"Someone needs to go and find Matt," Davis said.  
"I don't want to work with him," Tai said icily.  
"Well that's your bad luck because not only do we want to, we need him!" Izzy said "He's a Digidestined remember?"  
Tai noticed that Davis looked a little reluctant to trace Matt even though he was rallying the troops. Obviously this bothered him more than he wanted to admit.  
"I'll go," Mimi said "TK, maybe you should come."  
"We should all go," Iori said "It's dangerous to split up."  
"I'm not going anywhere near him," Tai said.  
Joe grabbed one arm. Sora grabbed the other.  
"Come on," Davis said.  
The group frog-marched Tai along in the direction that Matt had ran.  
  
Part 3 ends.  



	4. Little Voices

Fire and Ice  
Little Voices  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.  
  
Matt ran and ran, pushing though undergrowth and zigzagging though the trees until he finally couldn't run anymore. He collapsed to the ground, hunching up into a tight little ball, shaking and sobbing.  
They all knew. They all knew his secret. That he was gay and that he loved Tai, that he'd kissed Tai, been responsible for Kari's injuries and made Tai hate him. And now they'd all hate him too, hate him like Tai did. Why had Tai told everybody? Why couldn't they see that it didn't change anything? Why couldn't Tai still be his friend? Why did this have to happen to him? He hadn't meant to fall in love with Tai, it had just developed, developed out of their close friendship. And it had taken so long to get up the courage to tell Tai and then he'd blown it, blown it and destroyed everything....  
Matt continued to sob bitterly until a sound jerked him into a more wary state of mind. There was something in the bushes, watching him.  
"Who's there?" he asked, scrambling to his feet, wiping away the tears on his face.  
There was no answer. Matt suddenly realised that the place was silent, eerily so. Something was very wrong.  
"Who's there?" he demanded again "Show yourself!"  
He fleetingly wished Gabumon was with him but he'd left him behind when he'd run. He glanced round for a weapon in case he needed one. There was a large stick nearby and Matt edged nearer to it.  
"Show yourself!" he shouted again.  
"No need to be quite so hostile," a voice said lightly.  
Matt whirled round. A pretty, slender woman was watching him. She was partly concealed behind some bushes and Matt could only see her top half. She had long dark hair and eyes with very pale skin. Matt knew that if he was straight, he'd be drooling. As it was, he couldn't helping thinking she was attractive.  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
The woman smiled.  
"More to the point, who are you?" she said.  
"Matt," Matt said.  
"Matt," she repeated "A strange name."  
"You know my name," Matt said "What's yours?"  
"I'm Helmon," the woman said, stepping out from behind the bushes. Matt gulped back a terrified scream. Her lower half was....rotten. Decaying. Matt could still see bits of flesh hanging off only it was grey-green and there were maggots crawling though it....  
Matt gagged, struggling not be sick. He couldn't stop himself backing off. Helmon laughed scornfully.  
"Oh stop it," she said "I'm not that repulsive."  
Matt tried to stop himself shaking as she took another step towards him. What did she call repulsive? He could see her toe bones....  
"What kind of Digimon are you?" he asked, forcing his voice not to shake.  
"I'm not a Digimon," Helmon said "Or rather, I am, but not exactly. I'm made of Digital data now that I've entered this world but I am not originally a Digimon."  
"Then....what are you?"  
"I?" Helmon said "I am a God!"  
She laughed and Matt found himself pressing against a tree. He was terrified.  
"A God?" he repeated.  
Helmon nodded.  
"A lesser one but a God all the same," she said "Haven't you heard of me? I'm disappointed!"  
Matt swallowed painfully.  
"What do you want with the Digital World?" he asked.  
Helmon sighed.  
"It's quite simple really," she said "People no longer worship us in our own world. When no one believes in you, your power goes. We wanted power again. Then Bartlebimon discovered a way to open a gateway though to this Digital World. So now we are here. And we rule it."  
Matt shook his head.  
"We'll fight you," he said "You may be some dumb God but we'll fight you. We'll stop you."  
"We?" Helmon said "Who is this 'we'?"  
"Me and the other Digidestined!" Matt said.  
"Other Digidestined?" Helmon mused "I don't see any other Digidestined."  
"They'll be here soon," Matt said, a stab of doubt striking him.  
"What makes you think that?" Helmon asked "Why should they follow you?"  
"Because we're friends....." Matt said, his voice trailing off uncertainly as he thought of pervious events.  
"Are you?" Helmon said. She stared coolly at Matt, her eyes glittering.  
"Yes...." Matt said.  
His voice was sounding more and more uncertain every moment. Helmon smiled.  
"They aren't your friends Matt," she said "You know that. They know about you. They think you're disgusting, that you're weak and pathetic. No one loves you, no one wants you. You're nothing to them!"  
Matt shuddered. She was voicing the thoughts that he'd been suffering only a little while before and it hurt.  
"That's not true," he said "It's not true. You don't know what you're talking about."  
Helmon laughed again. She walked over to where Matt was standing.  
"Isn't it?" she said "Really? See it Matt. Feel it!"  
She pressed a finger against Matt's forehead, her long fingernail cutting his skin, drawing a trickle of blood. Matt felt a jolt go though him. Then Helmon stepped back, smiling. Matt suddenly felt an explosion of pain behind his eyes, driving him to his knees with a cry. Helmon laughed mockingly.  
Then Matt was swamped with the worst feeling he'd ever suffered in all his life. Waves of pain and misery swept though him. Everything bad that had ever happened to him was in his mind, growing like seeds, reminding him.  
His parents divorce. Hardly ever seeing TK. His confusion as he realised that he liked other boys rather than girls. His growing feelings for Tai and fear that Tai could never like him back. And Tai's now hate of him. These and a hundred other things were going though his mind. And all the time, digging in like daggers, were voices, telling him that he was no good, that he was disgusting, a perverted freak.  
Tai's anger, his friends shocked faces.  
'You're foul and unnatural.....'  
'You're a disgusting, perverted freak....'  
"No!" Matt cried pleadingly "Stop! Please stop! Leave me alone!"  
But the voices wouldn't leave him alone. He couldn't see anymore, his head hurt, hurt so badly that he couldn't see anymore, couldn't hear anything except the cruel voices, saying over and over that he was worthless, dirty, bad. He was why his parents had split up, they hadn't wanted him, no one wanted him. He was useless, stupid, foul. He had to stop them, had to stop the voices....  
Matt clawed frantically at the sides of his head until blood was flowing but it wasn't helping. The voices were getting louder, taunting him, mocking him. Over the voices he could hear Helmon laughing faintly but it didn't mean anything, not anymore. The only things that meant anything were the voices.  
'You're worthless, you've never been any good, you've just got in the way....'  
'What good have you ever been? You just hurt your friends, you can't do anything right....'  
'You're a disgusting, perverted freak!'  
No matter what the others voices told him, Tai's was always back sooner or later, his face floating accusingly in front of Matt's eyes, mocking him.  
"STOP!" he screamed "STOP! PLEASE!"  
Trying to get Tai's accusing, angry face away, he started tearing at his face again, ripping at it with his fingernails, scrabbling at his eyes, trying to remove the face, the voices.....   
But they wouldn't go. They wouldn't listen. Matt doubled over, gasping and sobbing, pleading for the voices to leave him alone. He couldn't be that bad, he couldn't be....  
'You know you are' he heard Tai's voice whisper in his mind "You know you are Matt. You're unnatural Matt, you're wrong. You know it's all true, it's all true....'  
"No!" Matt cried pitifully "Tai, no! Please!"  
'You know I'm right' Tai's voice whispered goadingly 'You know the truth Matt.'  
The other voices came back then, pulsing and ripping though Matt's head. He couldn't think anymore, couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. All there was were the voices, the voices echoing round his head.  
"TAICHI!" he screamed with his last remaining bit of strength.  
The last thing he heard before cool, blissful darkness swept over him was Tai's voice whispering 'Freak....'  
  
The End of Part 4  
You review me! I want...ohhhhh, about 10 more reviews before I post the next part. So review me and tell all your friends 'cause I'm not writing more until at least 10 reviews are up!!!!!!  



	5. Blind

Fire and Ice  
Blind  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Not now, not ever.  
A/N It's suddenly occurred to me that the Digimon are doing very little in this story. I think I ought to warn you this is mostly because I don't care about the Digimon and view them as mostly unimportant to my stories. So sorry if you were hoping for the Digimon to have big parts but that's unlikely.  
  
"Matt? Matt?" TK shouted "Matt, where are you?"  
There was no reply. TK sighed miserably.  
"I'm running out of voice," he said "Someone else try?"  
"Where is he?" Davis said "He can't have run this far!"  
"Well he must have done, mustn't he?" Sora snapped impatiently.  
Tai said nothing. He was silent, miserable and angry. He wasn't sure which one he was the most. What was he supposed to say to Matt when they found him? And what if he didn't even want the blonde to forgive him? How could they work together?  
"Do you think something's happened to him?" Iori asked.  
"I don't know," Sora said "Maybe."  
"TAICHI!"  
Matt's scream ripped through the air. Tai looked round, fear suddenly racing through him.  
"Did anyone else..."  
"Where did it come from? Quick!" TK cried "Matt! Matt, where are you!"  
There was no reply. Tai meanwhile was trying to work out which direction the scream had come from. Hoping he was right, he took off, shoving his way through the undergrowth towards the direction of Matt's scream. He could hear the others following him but ignored the distraction until he fell into a half clearing.  
Matt was lying crumpled on the floor, unconscious. A beautiful woman was kneeling over him.  
At least, she would have been beautiful. But Tai could see her bottom half. The twisted, decaying, mouldering bottom half.  
"Oh....God," he choked out, trying not to be sick.  
The woman looked up.  
"How eerily appropriate," she said "So....you're the famous Taichi."  
"Matt," Tai said, struggling to ignore his repulsion "What have you done to Matt?"  
He could see blood on Matt's face, oozing from long scratches.  
"He did most of that himself," the woman said lazily, brushing a strand of hair from Matt's face "Poor little thing."  
Tai heard the others arriving behind him, made himself ignore their horrified reactions to the woman's condition.  
"Who are you?" he demanded.  
"Helmon," the woman said, still sounding lazy. She smoothed Matt's hair again.  
"Get away from him!" TK shouted.  
The woman - Helmon - finally showed some reaction. Her lip curled in disgust.  
"You must be Hope," she said "How revolting. Bartlebimon will enjoy breaking you."  
"No one will ever break me!" TK said.  
"How amusing. You obviously haven't met Bartlebimon yet. Or for that matter, my father. Still...."  
She stood up smoothly, her eyes running over each of them.  
"Puny Digimon," she said contemptuously "I can see what my sister meant about you all though. Very interesting."  
"Puny!" Davis yelled "We'll kick your ass!"  
"I wouldn't advise you trying," Helmon said.  
The Digimon began to digivolve. Before they could finish, Helmon calmly held up her hand and said "Power Decay!"  
There was a woosh and the Digimon were all flung backwards, only partially digivolved. They each shrank back to their In-Training forms.  
"How feeble," Helmon said "I shan't waste my time here any longer."  
She twirled round. There was a puff of smoke, and she was gone. For a moment, everyone stood still. Then Tai ran over to Matt.  
"Matt? Matt?"  
He was breathing. Tai felt a stab of relief go through him.  
"Matt snap out of it! Wake up!"  
Matt's eyelids fluttered. He gave a violent shiver then began to cough, a violent, hacking cough that sounded desperate. He clutched at Tai, shaking. The others had gathered round and were staring.  
"Matt! Are you all right?"  
"Tai?" Matt choked out "I....can't see you. Can't see anything. Tai, help me, HELP ME!"  
He started coughing and retching again. Tai stared at him, not sure what to do. Eventually, he looked at the others, praying that they'd say something. None of them moved.  
"Matt," he said "Matt. Stop it. It's all right Matt, just calm down, please."  
"You hated me," Matt sobbed "You hate me, you called me a freak, you hate me! Tai, I can't see!"  
Tai slapped him. The sound echoed round the clearing. Matt froze, his hand pressed to his face.  
"Stop it!" Tai ordered harshly "We haven't got time for hysterics Matt. Now. Look at me."  
Matt turned his head. Tai gulped. Matt's eyes were slightly glazed and they looked strange somehow. It was clear that he wasn't seeing anything around him. Blood ran from the deep scratches on his cheeks, his forehead, around his eyes...  
"God Matt, did you do this?" Tai asked softly.  
Matt nodded.  
"I just wanted the voices to stop," he whispered "I just wanted them to go away!"  
TK knelt down and hugged his brother.  
"It's okay now Matt," he whispered "It's all okay. I promise. We'll take care of you."  
Matt shivered.  
"Come on," Izzy said "We need to find a safe place the spend the night and where we can check Matt over properly."  
Joe and Tai carried Matt between them. None of the Digimon could digivolve yet. They were all exhausted, drained. They just had to move and hope. By a small stroke of luck, they found themselves a cave. Iori ran off to get some water to wash Matt's scratches with while Joe examined Matt's eyes.  
"Has he scratched them?" Ken suggested.  
"Probably. I don't know," Joe said eventually "I can't tell. I'm not that good."  
Matt started coughing again. It was a horrible cough, deep and wrenching. TK wiped his face, trying to pretend that he wasn't crying. The others just watched anxiously as Iori returned with the water. Joe carefully washed out the cuts.  
"Matt, what happened?" he asked.  
"I....I was in the clearing....and Helmon came," Matt said "She...she said....I don't remember! I don't remember what she said! She said something....about herself....and the others....but I don't remember! I just remember her saying that you all hated me and then....then the pain....it hurts!"  
He began coughing again, violently. TK hugged his brother again, obviously wanting to make it better.  
"Matt, why do you keep coughing like that?" Yolei asked.  
"I can't breathe properly," Matt said "Air just....keeps getting stuck."  
He shuddered. Painful spasms racked his body as he coughed.  
"We should all rest," Joe said quietly "Maybe Matt'll be better in the morning."  
They all scattered, too tired to eat or do anything else. Sora nudged Tai.  
"Go and apologise to him," she hissed "Now!"  
Tai slowly moved over. TK was huddled next to his brother. He gave Tai a dirty look as Tai sat down but moved away.  
"Matt?" Tai said softly.  
"Tai?"  
"I...I'm sorry," Tai said awkwardly "I didn't mean.....I'm sorry I was so horrible."  
"You...you forgive me? We're still friends?"  
"Yes," Tai said "We're still friends."  
Matt smiled.  
"Thank you," he whispered "Thank you Tai. I....I never meant to make things wrong between us."  
Tai patted his shoulder and stood up. Matt grabbed at him.  
"Tai? Please stay with me."  
"I can't," Tai said "I...I have to be on guard duty. TK will be with you though."  
"But I want you."  
Tai swallowed.  
"Matt," he said as gently as he could "We're friends and things are okay between us. But I....I don't want you to think that there can ever be anything more between us than that. So I think maybe it's best if you and I don't get too....close....for a while."  
Matt didn't react on the surface. Tai thought he saw one tear glisten in his eye. Then he nodded.  
"I see. Goodnight Tai."  
Tai moved away, feeling troubled. He saw TK go straight back, snuggling up with his brother again. Tai sat down next to Kari and cradled Koromon in his arms.  
"How're you little guy?" he said softly.  
"I'm fine Tai," Koromon said "I feel much better now."  
"I guess these new Digimon can drain powers," Tai mused "I hope that we can get enough energy to fight them."  
"Of course we can!" Koromon said fiercely.  
Tai smiled.  
"How did things go with you and Matt? Are you friends again?" the little Digimon asked.  
"I guess," Tai said doubtfully "I don't know."  
Koromon sighed. Tai slid down the wall, still holding his Digimon and closed his eyes. Soon, everyone was asleep.  
Except Matt. He remained awake, sightless eyes staring over the cave, silent coughing spasms still shaking his body from time to time.  
  
The End of Part 5.  
  
Review me now! Fanfic may no longer send my E-mails to my account but they're still important to me! I still come and check them! So your reviews matter! Hopefully the next part will come quicker than this one did. Sorry about the delay! REVIEW! 


	6. Heating Up

Fire and Ice  
Heating Up  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the Norse Gods.  
Lots of Taito in this part! Hee hee!  
A/N A note to Isis Blue, no, don't worry, you don't have to know which one is 'father' at this time. You only know that if you are a fan of Norse Mythology. For anyone who is interested, it's Lokimon.  
  
Tai was woken by Matt's coughing. He was trying to stifle it but it sounded painful.  
"Matt?" he muttered.  
"S-sorry," Matt gasped "Didn't mean to wake you up."  
Another wracking cough escaped him.  
"Do you need anything?" Tai asked.  
"A drink would be nice."  
Tai paused for a moment. Getting up, he walked over and carefully helped Matt up, untangling him from a soundly sleeping TK.  
"Come on," he said gently.  
He led Matt down to the steam. Matt was obviously still blind. Tai realised quickly how difficult it was to lead a blind person without letting them accidentally bang into something. He still managed to succeed, carefully getting Matt to the stream without major mishap. Matt gulped the water Tai offered him gratefully, still coughing slightly. The water didn't seem to soothe him very well.  
"Thanks Tai," he said.  
"Has it helped?" Tai said doubtfully.  
"A little," Matt said. He shivered.  
"Cold?"  
"Just a bit."  
Matt gulped some more water before summoning up the courage to ask Tai something that was confusing him.  
"Tai....why were you so angry with me? You know I never meant for anything bad to happen to Kari."  
"I know," Tai whispered "I just....I felt so scared. Kari was hurt, maybe dying and I should have been there! I should have been able to protect her. But I wasn't. I wasn't there to rescue her. And I guess I blamed you for that."  
"Do you still?"  
Tai winced, glad Matt couldn't see him. He wasn't sure. A part of him still did blame Matt for what had happened. He couldn't help it. Matt had changed to him now, become a new, difficult person that Tai needed to re-adjust to.  
"No, of course not," he said.  
"Really?"  
"Yes."  
Tai crossed his fingers and hoped Matt would believe him.  
"Liar."  
Tai sighed. Instead of saying anything, he gave Matt a slightly awkward hug. They sat there, Tai staring into the fast running stream waters, Matt staring at nothing.  
* * * *  
"Those two are getting too friendly," Helmon said sulkily "Courage is spoiling my Friendship!"  
Fenrirmon sighed.  
"Brother," she said, speaking to Jormungandmon "Hurry along to Father will you? Explain the situation. I'm sure he can think of something suitable...."  
There was a soft laugher from Jormungandmon. Then there was a slithering splash and he was gone.  
"I hope it works," Helmon said, still sounding sulky "It's not fair when perfectly good fun gets spoilt."  
"Who's getting Courage anyway?" Fenrirmon asked.  
"Father chose him," Helmon said. She scowled "Leaving me with Knowledge. Honestly!"  
"Oh he isn't so bad," Fenrirmon said lazily "Besides, it could be worse. You could have ended up with Reliability. Anyway, I did give you Friendship!"  
Helmon sighed.  
* * * *  
"We should go back to the others soon," Tai said softly "They'll worry."  
"I like it out here," Matt said "The air helps my cough."  
"Just a bit longer then," Tai said.  
A cold wind drifted past them, making Tai shiver. Unconsciously, he moved close to Matt, relying on his body heat. Matt leaned against him, closing his sightless eyes. Tai sneezed as some sort of grass seed went up his nose. Matt giggled.  
"Oh shut up," Tai said, pulling Matt closer to him "It's not funny."  
"Is to!"  
"Is not!"  
"Is to!"  
"Is not!"  
Tai rolled his eyes. Trust Matt to get him into silly argument.  
"We should go back to the others soon," he murmured.  
"You said that before. Please can't we stay out a little longer?"  
"Okay," Tai agreed. He looked down at Matt's slightly upturned face, suddenly overcome with the desire to kiss him. Gulping, he forced his head away. What was wrong with him? He didn't want that with Matt, that was the point! He wasn't interested in Matt that way.  
"Tai."  
"Yes?" Tai managed.  
"You're nice and warm."  
Tai laughed huskily.  
"So're you."  
"I'm not warm," Matt said, sounding sad "I'm cold as ice. Everyone says so."  
"Oh don't be stupid," Tai said "You're warm as anything!"  
Matt cuddled even closer making Tai swallow. What was wrong with him?  
"Matt, I...."  
"Yes?" Matt said softly.  
Tai shook his head.  
"Forget it," he muttered "It's doesn't matter."  
Matt paused for a moment. Then he reached up and caught Tai's shoulders. Pulling himself up, he kissed Tai firmly. Despite being unable to see, he seemed to know his way round Tai's face perfectly. His lips were soft and warm. Tai couldn't help himself. He responded, kissing Matt greedily, drinking the warmth in. He felt Matt's arms tighten around Tai, pushing himself closer. Tai pushed Matt down onto the ground, his kisses growing deeper, more exploring.  
"Tai...I love you."  
Tai smiled, then kissed Matt again, leaving no more room for words.  
* * * *  
"Well, that worked nicely," Lokimon remarked, sitting back with a smirk "Honestly, it was rather easy."  
"Well, if it spoils them being happy, I'm happy!" Helmon said.  
"Oh it will. When they wake up, Courage will be far from happy. And Friendship will be too when Courage has finished saying whatever he's going to say."  
Helmon laughed.  
* * * *  
Tai's eyes flickered open. It was still dark, still night. He shifted, trying to get more comfortable, then froze.  
No. No! What had he done? What had he done?  
Pushing himself back, swallowing his nausea, Tai stared down at Matt in horror. Matt was smiling in his sleep, looking very peaceful. Tai didn't feel peaceful at all. What the hell was wrong with him? He wasn't gay dammit! He WASN'T GAY! He didn't like Matt that way! He'd just been....feeling sorry for Matt and when Matt had kissed him, he'd just wanted to help Matt feel better, he hadn't meant to go as far as he had, that was all, he hadn't meant to have sex with him...  
But he had. Matt had kissed him and Tai had responded and now everyone would think he was gay when he wasn't! Being like that was disgusting, everyone knew that! And now.....  
Tai shuddered and shook his head. He couldn't stay there any more. Pulling on his clothes, he fled back to the cave, leaving Matt curled up, alone.  
* * * *  
When Matt stirred awake, he was momentarily confused by his seeming inability to open his eyes. Then he remembered. With that memory came another one. Smiling, Matt reached out for Tai.  
He wasn't there.  
"Tai?" Matt said "Tai?"  
No answer. Matt felt around desperately but he couldn't find Tai anywhere.  
"Tai!" he cried pleadingly.  
A horrible feeling was surrounding him. Surely Tai wouldn't have run off and left him? Tai had wanted him! And even if....he knew Matt was blind, surely he wouldn't have left Matt alone...  
Matt pulled on his clothes with some difficulty.  
"Tai!" he cried again "Tai!"  
But his voice echoed mockingly around him. Giving in to the despair that was swamping him again, Matt curled up and sobbed.  
'Not again. Why has he left me again?'  
He was unaware of Helmon standing silently nearby, smiling gleefully at Matt's despair.  
  
The End of Part 6.  
  



	7. Seperations

Fire and Ice Separation By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.  
  
"Matt? Matt!"  
  
Tai was woken from an uneasy slumber by TK's voice.  
  
"TK, what's wrong?" he heard Iori asked.  
  
"Matt's gone!" TK gasped "He's disappeared!"  
  
"Maybe he went for a walk?" Davis suggested uncertainly.  
  
"He's blind you fool!" TK shouted "He can't walk!"  
  
He raised his voice.  
  
"Matt! Matt! Matt where are you?"  
  
Tai gulped. He'd completely forgotten that Matt wouldn't be able to find his way back to the group when he woke up.  
  
"I....I know where he is," he mumbled.  
  
Everyone turned to look at him. Tai gulped.  
  
"I took him to get a drink," he muttered "He.....we fell asleep. I....I forgot...."  
  
"You LEFT him there?" TK screamed at him.  
  
Tai gulped.  
  
"TK, I....."  
  
There was a sharp crack. Tai fell back clutching at his cheek, pain smarting through it. TK stared at his hand in shock, as though it had moved without his permission. Then he swallowed.  
  
"Tai, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you," he said, his voice icy "You make me sick. You are going to get a grip on yourself NOW and you will stop hurting people. Where did you leave Matt?"  
  
Tai pointed mutely. TK turned and ran. The others followed him. Tai slowly stood up and followed. His brains were in turmoil but to his guilt, one thought was sticking out.  
  
'Please don't let Matt tell the others about what we did.....'  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt lay, curled up on the floor. Helmon stood over him, her hand extended over his head. TK raced up and froze.  
  
"MATT!"  
  
"Oh," Helmon said "It's you."  
  
"What are you doing to him?" TK screamed at her.  
  
"Nothing much," Helmon said. She sighed "You had to interrupt. Oh well. I'll see you soon - if my brother doesn't get you first."  
  
She disappeared with a whoosh. TK raced to his brother's side.  
  
"Matt! Matt, please wake up! Matt are you okay?"  
  
Matt didn't move. His eyes were closed, his face plastic, pale.  
  
"Matt, wake up!"  
  
The others gathered round. Tai lingered on the edge, staring down at his friend.  
  
"Is he okay?"  
  
"I don't know," TK said tearfully "Matt, wake up!"  
  
Matt's eyes flickered.  
  
"It's cold," he whispered. He shuddered "Tai? Tai, where are you?"  
  
TK gave Tai a filthy look.  
  
"It's okay," he said soothingly "We're all okay Matt. You'll be fine."  
  
"I still can't see," Matt whispered "I heard a voice....she came for me again. She keeps coming back.....it's so cold!"  
  
TK swallowed.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Davis asked quietly "One of our team is out for the count. We're fighting five Digimon who we haven't a clue how to fight. We've got a damn big problem and no one knows what to do!"  
  
There was a silence, only broken by Matt's quiet sobs.  
  
"I don't know," Sora said at last "I've never tried to cope with anything like this before."  
  
"We could take the fight to them," TK suggested "They've hurt my brother!"  
  
"But what's the point?" Ken demanded "We don't know what they really are!"  
  
"Something keeps niggling at me," Izzy said slowly "Something...but I can't remember."  
  
Matt frowned through his tears. Something was niggling at him too. He did know something but it wouldn't come. It wouldn't come.  
  
He wiped his face.  
  
"I should stay here," he said softly "You lot need to keep going to fight. I'll just get in the way. I should stay here."  
  
He knew everyone was staring at him.  
  
"But...but Matt...."  
  
"What else can I do?" Matt asked bitterly "I'm useless."  
  
There was a silence.  
  
"I'll stay with him," TK said.  
  
"No!" Matt said sharply "You're needed to DNA Digivolve with Iori."  
  
"Then I'll stay," Joe said.  
  
"The others need you," Matt said.  
  
"I'll stay," Sora said quietly.  
  
Matt didn't complain.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Sora, look after him," TK said softly "Please make sure he's okay."  
  
"I will," Sora said firmly "Don't worry TK."  
  
Tai wasn't speaking. He was standing a little way away from everyone saying goodbye to Sora and Matt, watching Matt. Eventually he stepped forward and pulled Matt aside. Matt jerked.  
  
"Matt," Tai whispered.  
  
"Tai!" Matt whispered "Tai, I...."  
  
"Sh," Tai said "Matt I....I want you to promise that you won't tell anybody about....about what we did."  
  
Matt's face crumpled.  
  
"But....but didn't...Tai, why'd you run away? Didn't it mean anything to you?"  
  
"It was an accident," Tai said harshly "I didn't mean to do that. I'm not like that!"  
  
"But...but you...."  
  
"Matt, I don't want you!" Tai snapped "Can't you accept that?"  
  
He looked at Matt. The pale face was shaking, like it was going to shatter into a thousand pieces. Tai felt an odd flutter inside him.  
  
"Maybe I could accept it," Matt said in a low voice "If you'd stop playing with me! Why are you playing with me Tai? Why are you making this harder for me?"  
  
Tai swallowed. He didn't have an answer.  
  
"I'll see you Tai," Matt said. He laughed bitterly "'See you'! That's a laugh! I'm blind!"  
  
He turned away. Tai suddenly wanted to hug him, apologise, make everything okay.  
  
But he couldn't.  
  
"Are we going?" he asked, his voice sounding strained.  
  
"Bye Tai," Sora said softly.  
  
Tai dumbly waved at her. Then they all walked away slowly. Tai twisted round as they kept moving, suddenly needing to see Matt one last time. But Matt and Sora were only little specks now and he couldn't tell one from the other.  
  
* * * *  
  
"They're gone," Sora said quietly.  
  
"I know," Matt said.  
  
There was a silence. Then Matt burst into tears. Sora wasn't even surprised. Reaching out, she held Matt tightly in her arms as he sobbed bitterly into her arms. Eventually, his sobs slowed. He drew back, guiltily wiped at his face.  
  
"Sora, I'm sorry to hold you back," he whispered.  
  
"It's all right," Sora said. She took his arm "Come on. I'll take you back to the cave."  
  
* * * *  
  
"Those brats have split up!" Helmon said amusedly "How stupid."  
  
"Friendship and Love," Fenrirmon said "Awwwwwwww. Maybe they can start a happy little family!"  
  
"Friendship being helplessly in love with Courage might cause problems there," Helmon said "I think I shall finish Friendship actually. I'm tired of playing."  
  
"All right," Fenrirmon said "Then I shall go for Light. Good luck."  
  
"I shall attack with you," Jormungandmon hissed "I want to make my prey mine!"  
  
The three separated from each other, each planning the demise of a Digidestined.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Tai, lets stop!" Davis yelled at him "We're all shattered!"  
  
Tai abruptly stopped. Davis gave Ken a frustrated look as Tai sat down without saying anything.  
  
"I'm going to murder him," he hissed.  
  
"No Davis," Ken said quietly, cradling the exhausted Wormmon in his arms "Tai's screwed up right now."  
  
"So are we!"  
  
"Not as much as him."  
  
Ken left the others to make a fire to keep them warm and walked over to Tai.  
  
"Tai?" he said softly.  
  
Tai glanced at him, then looked away.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Ken shrugged, suddenly wishing he knew what to say.  
  
"Tai," he said at last "I can't make you understand. But you're behaving like an idiot. If you think, you'll see that."  
  
He moved away. Tai stared dully after him. Then he put his head in his hands and tried to think.  
  
The End of Part 7.  
  
Yes, I know Matt's crying a lot recently. It's part of Helmon's poison. He'll get over it. Review me! This is one of my most difficult fics to write and I apprciate the feedback. Please review. 


	8. Fear

Fire and Ice  
Fear  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.  
  
Matt opened his eyes and for a few moments, was completely confused about the fact that he still couldn't see anything. Then he remembered why.  
Reaching out, he tried to find Sora or Gabumon in the darkness. He hated this, he hated the feelings of panic that swept over him every time he remembered that he was blind.  
"Sora?" he whispered.  
A hand closed over his.  
"Sora," Matt whispered.  
"Actually no."  
Matt froze. He opened his mouth to scream but suddenly all he could do was helplessly cough. His lungs were on fire, he thought he was going to cough them out.  
"Maybe you shouldn't have separated from your friends?" Helmon's silky voice whispered to him in the blackness "Perhaps if they were here, they could help you. Instead of Love, who's completely fast asleep."  
Matt struggled to pull away from Helmon's hand, trying to stop his coughs and choke down his own fear. Reaching out with his free hand, he punched blindly, trying to break away. A feeling of incredible weakness swept over him and his arm dropped.  
"Oh dear. Tired are you?"  
"Let...me...go!" Matt gasped out.  
"Don't be so silly."  
Matt closed his eyes, even though it made little difference. He was going to die alone in the dark and Sora would wake in the morning to find his body on the floor. If Helmon even left a body. He was going to die without ever saying a proper goodbye to TK or Tai...  
Even thinking Tai's name was enough to send a wave of despair through him that sapped his small amount of remaining strength. With a pitiful moan, he sank down the wall. He heard Helmon laugh softly and knew he was beaten.  
* * * *  
Tai sat awake by the fire, poking it gently with a stick. He couldn't sleep. His nerves were jangling.  
'You have to go. Something's wrong. Something's going to happen. Something bad's going to happen. Something bad's going to happen!'  
"Stop it!" Tai hissed, shaking his head.  
Scrambling up, he walked over to Kari to check her first. Her head was pillowed on her arm, Gatomon snuggled under her other arm. She was clearly fine. Tai walked over to TK next. TK appeared fine too, his breathing deep and even. He could hear Davis's snores from all the way over where he was standing but walked over anyway. He couldn't help noticing that Ken had spooned up to Davis while he was asleep, his head pillowed on Davis's shoulder, one arm draped over Davis's body. Tai blinked, slightly startled by that. Then he shrugged and slowly walked round, checking each person. They all appeared fine, curled up with their Digimon, sound asleep. Even Agumon was fast asleep, looking quite happy.  
So why was he so jumpy?  
Tai sat down by the fire, drawing up his knees and staring pensively at the flames. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel so bad?  
'Maybe you're thinking about Matt...'  
Tai shook his head obstinately. He wouldn't think about Matt, he wouldn't. What had happened wasn't his fault! It wasn't!  
He could almost hear someone laughing at him.  
'Who're you trying to kid Yagami?'  
Tai swallowed and shook his head again. He WOULDN'T think about this!  
A rustling noise made him jump. He groaned softly. This was stupid. He had to relax instead of leaping around like a rabbit.  
"Tai?"  
He looked over. Iori was giving him a sleepy stare.  
"Did I wake you?" Tai asked.  
"Were you making that funny noise?"  
"What funny noise?"  
"The slithery one."  
"No," Tai said "You must have imagined it. Go back to sleep."  
Iori shook his head.  
"I heard a slithery noise," he said insistently.  
"You imagined it," Tai repeated. He wasn't in the mood for Iori's trade-mark stubbornness.  
Iori ignored him. He stood up and glanced around him.  
"There's something out there Tai," he whispered.  
"Iori," Tai began, exasperated.  
"You'd do well to listen to the little one," a soft voice hissed from nearby.  
Tai slowly stood up, looking around.  
"Who are you?" he asked "Where are you?"  
"I'm over here."  
The voice could have come from anywhere. Tai swallowed, struggling not to panic. Iori was looking scared too.  
"Who are you?" he shouted.  
Around them, the other Digidestined were stirring awake, alerted by Tai and Iori not even vaguely attempting to be quiet.  
"I? I'm the World Serpent. I am the creature that even the Kraken fears. I'm one of your worst nightmares!"  
"Stop trying to milk it and show yourself!" Davis yelled.  
There was an explosion from the bushes. Tai barely even got a good look at whatever it was; just a glimpse of damp glittering scales and huge jaws. Then he heard Joe give a terrified shout and realised that the thing had grabbed him. But before he could even react, Kari screamed from behind him and Tai realised that Fenrirmon had put in another appearance.  
"KARI!" he yelled, leaping at the wolf Digimon. Fenrirmon easily knocked him sideways. Gasping for air, Tai staggered up again, only to suddenly feel incredibly weak and need to sit down.  
"Tai! What's wrong? Get up Tai!"  
Izzy was frantically tugging at him arm. Tai pushed him away.  
"Get Kari!" he gasped hoarsely "Save Kari!"  
Izzy nodded quickly and moved away. Tai closed his eyes, fighting the strange feelings sweeping over him.  
*Can't....keep...up...any more....*  
Tai frowned. What was that...?  
*What?*  
*Tai?*  
Before he could puzzle anything out, something struck him like a sledgehammer. With barely even a whimper, Tai went down.  
* * * *  
Sora opened her eyes from a series of increasingly uneasy dreams. She was instantly on her feet.  
"YOU!"  
Helmon turned an icy, triumphant gaze on her. One hand was closed round Matt's wrist. Sora couldn't tell if Matt was unconscious or dead. His face was bluish with an expression that would almost have broken her heart. He looked so lost... "Let Matt go!"  
"Oh shut up."  
Helmon held out her hand. Sora felt herself lifted up and slammed into the wall of the cave with almost enough force to knock her out. Staggering to her feet, she gripped her Digivice.  
"Biyomon!"  
Biyomon digivolved. Not for the first time, Sora thanks Azulomon for leaving them with the powers of his spheres or whatever they were. Having Garudamon there made her feel much safer.  
Helmon gave her a contemptuous look.  
"You think THAT can stop me?"  
Sora gulped. She wasn't certain. She was all alone and they hadn't been able to defeat Helmon with a combined attack...  
"Sora?" Matt croaked faintly "Sora?"  
"It's okay Matt!" Sora called, keeping her voice strong "I promise you, it's okay!"  
"Hurt..."  
"I know. But we'll make it better!"  
Helmon laughed and held up her hand again. Garudamon jumped into the air.  
"Wing Blade!"  
Helmon easily avoided the attack.  
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon shouted, trying to help. Sora rushed over to where Matt was huddled. His eyes were still closed and he lay floppy in her arms.  
"Matt, come on!" she whispered "We need you! Come on!"  
"I can't Sora..."  
"You have to!"  
"I...don't...Tai..."  
"Tai's not here remember?" Sora said nervously.  
Behind her, she heard Gabumon cry out in pain and winced.  
"I know," Matt whispered "But I thought...heard him. Just now. Then it went dark..."  
Sora shook him, desperate to keep him awake. "Matt help Gabumon Digivolve!" she shouted "You can do it Matt! We're your friends! You use our friendship! Think about TK! Think about everyone else! We're your friends!"  
Matt's eyes opened. Even though Sora knew they couldn't see her, she turned Matt's face towards her.  
"No friends...alone..."  
"No!" Sora cried.  
"Alone..."  
Sora frowned. Every time after Helmon had attacked, Matt had been despondent, pessimistic. Maybe that was Helmon's influence?  
"We're your friends Matt! Even Tai! And we won't desert you!"  
She shook him.  
"Ignore whatever Helmon's made you think! It's a lie! We're your friends!"  
She tightened her grip on his wrists.  
"We're. Your. Friends. Matt!"  
"Sora...."  
Matt shivered and suddenly went frighteningly limp in her arms. Sora heard Garudamon's shrill pained scream and looked around in time to see her Digimon de-digivolve down into Yokomon.  
"NO!"  
Helmon laughed.  
"Move out of the way little girly," she ordered "Give me my prey. I've earned him, don't you think?"  
"No!" Sora shouted "Matt's my friend and you could never earn him! I've promised to take care of him and that's what I'll do!"  
She stood up and stood protectively in front of Matt, her fists clenched.  
"What are you going to do? Fight me?"  
"You bet! I could beat you easily!"  
Sora was less confident than she sounded about that.  
"You'll lose."  
"But I'll still be protecting Matt! I'll die protecting him if I have to because that's what I promised to do!"  
With a startling stab of bravery, she lashed out, catching Helmon across the face. Helmon stumbled backwards, slightly to Sora's surprise.  
"Gabumon!"  
Matt's yell made her jump. Then Gabumon digivolved to MetalGarurumon.  
"I think you're busted lady!" he growled.  
Sora darted over and scooped up Yokomon.  
"Yoko? You feeling okay?"  
"I'll live," the Digimon croaked, smiling "I feel stronger already."  
"Maybe that's Matt," Sora suggested.  
Matt had actually stood up. He was clutching the wall for support but his teeth were gritted and he was obviously determined to stay upright.  
"You can't defeat me boy!" Helmon snarled but Sora noticed that she sounded less sure than before.  
"Really?" she shouted challengingly "You aren't sounding quite so brave now! And nice bruise!"  
Indeed, a red mark was raising on Helmon's cheek. Sora hadn't realised that she had quite such a strong punch.  
"You are a pitiful child!" Helmon shouted "And so is he!"  
She gestured at Matt. Matt obviously couldn't see it but he didn't seem to have to.  
"I'm not pitiful!" he shouted "I am strong! I am! I can do this..."  
"Who are you trying to kid?" Helmon enquired politely.  
"Don't listen Matt!" Sora shouted "You're right! You are strong! Don't listen to this old Hag!"  
"I am a God!" Helmon screamed.  
"Yeah, right!" Sora snapped back "You're a Digimon with delusions, that's what you are!"  
"You little..."  
Helmon moved towards her. Sora gulped.  
"Metal Wolf-Claw!" MetalGarurumon shouted. He threw Helmon backwards. Helmon stood up.  
"I'll be back," she said very quietly.  
Then she vanished.  
Sora insanely ran to Matt and lowered him down. Matt leaned his head on her shoulder. He was trembling.  
"Thanks Sora," he said. "Are you all right now?"  
"I think so..." Matt said slowly "But..."  
"But what?"  
"Just...just give me a moment to think..."  
Matt was frowning.   
"She said she was a God," he said slowly.  
"Yeah," Sora said "So? Like I said, delusions."  
"No," Matt said "I'm not so sure..."  
He struggled to remember what she'd said when he'd first come into contact with her.  
'People no longer worship us in our own world...'  
"She is a God," Matt whispered "Sora, she wasn't lying. She and the others...they're all Gods!"  
Sora stared at him.  
"What do you mean?"  
Matt told her about the conversation he'd had when he'd first met Helmon. Sora listened in growing horror.  
"But...but that must make them invincible!" she gasped.  
"But they aren't!" Yokomon said "We defeated Helmon!"  
"She was defeated, not destroyed," Sora said.  
"We must be able to win," Tsunomon said "Otherwise you wouldn't have been called back here."  
"We have to tell the others," Sora said "They don't know. We need to tell them and plan."  
She looked at Yokomon.  
"Yoko? Can you Digivolve into Birdramon? Then we'll be able to find them."  
"I can try."  
Matt reached out blindly. At first Sora was confused but then Tsunomon hopped into his arms and she understood.  
"Sora," Matt said "I...I think something's happened to the others."  
"What do you mean?" Sora asked puzzled.  
"I...I don't know," Matt said slowly "Maybe it was just Helmon. But when she was holding me I felt...felt something. And I got the impression that something was happening. To the others. To Tai."  
Sora frowned.  
"Well, we won't know until we go," she said "Yokomon?"  
"I think I can."  
"Then let's go," Sora said firmly.  
* * * *  
"Tai? Tai! Tai, wake up!"  
Tai didn't want to. His head hurt and it was so nice to be asleep, a nice deep sleep...  
"Dammit Tai, wake up!"  
Someone slapped his face.  
"TAICHI!"  
Tai moaned.  
"Tai, please wake up! We need you!"  
It seemed like his sleep was over. Tai's eyes flickered open slowly.   
"Tai! Thank God!"  
It was Davis.  
"Davis?" Tai muttered "What's wrong?"  
Davis was shivering. He carefully helped Tai sit up. But it was Iori who spoke.  
"Joe's gone!" he wailed "That snake-thing took him! Joe's gone!"  
Tai stared at him.  
"The others? Kari!"  
"She's here," Izzy said quietly.  
Tai looked round. Izzy was holding Kari in his arms. She was grey and unconscious.  
"Although for how much longer, I'm unsure," Izzy said "Tai. The antidote. Now."  
Tai scrabbled in his pocket and handed it over.  
"Does anyone remember how to apply it?" Davis asked.  
Izzy nodded. Kari drank the few drops of antidote he gave her.  
"Let's see how that works before giving her any more," Izzy said.  
Tai looked around at the others. They all looked bumped and bruised and weak. Iori was looking especially miserable and was obviously worried about Joe. Gomamon was curled up quite silently near the fire. He was obviously very distressed at having been separated from Joe. Tai rubbed his head muzzily.  
"What hit me?"  
"Didn't see," Izzy said bluntly.  
"How's Kari?"  
Tai crawled over and knelt beside them.  
"She should be okay I think," Izzy said.  
"We'll have to wait until she is," Tai said.  
"We can't WAIT!" Iori cried "We have to go after Joe!"  
"I'm not going anywhere until my little sister is okay!" Tai yelled angrily.  
"Stop it!" Mimi said "All this fighting makes my head hurt!"  
Tai glowered at her. Mimi swallowed. Normally Sora or Kari made sure that everyone was sensible. Now she was going to have to.  
"Okay," she said "Tai's right, Kari can't do anything while she's sick and someone has to take care of her. But Iori's right, we have to go after Joe."  
"And how do you propose we do that?" Tai snapped "The thing that took him could be anywhere!"  
"It's left an easily notable trail," Mimi pointed out, pointing at the crushed vegetation where the snake had been "We can follow that."  
Tai grudgingly nodded.  
"You have a good point," he said.  
"I'll go!" Iori said instantly.  
"I'll go with Iori," TK said.  
"Izzy and I will stay with Kari," Tai said.  
"I'll go with Iori and TK," Mimi said "We'll be fine on our own."  
"I'll go with you!" Yolei said instantly.  
"Okay," Mimi said "But no one else."  
"I don't think we should split up," Ken muttered but no one heard him.  
"See you guys soon I hope!" Izzy said "Make sure Joe is with you!"  
Mimi, Yolei, Iori and TK set off along the trail with their Digimon and Gomamon. Ken watched them go silently.  
"Ken?"  
Ken looked at Davis.  
"I wish they weren't going," he muttered "I have a bad feeling about it."  
Davis touched his arm.  
"They'll be fine," he said "We have to stay and look after Tai and Izzy."  
Ken nodded but didn't look convinced. Obviously, the idea of splitting up again worried him. Davis squeezed his arm.  
"Come on Ken," he said "Don't you crack up on me! I need you! Everyone else is going insane; I can't be the only normal person!"  
Ken smiled at him. It was a rather weak smile but it was a smile none-the-less.  
"Don't worry Davis," he said "I won't crack up."  
"Well good," Davis said firmly.  
For a second, the two just stared at each other. Then Ken sighed.  
"Come on," he said "Let's go and get Tai away from Izzy. I think Izzy would like to look after Kari properly, without Tai fluttering over him.  
Davis nodded and the two of them walked over to the huddled group beside the fire.  
* * * *  
Joe woke up feeling very groggy, slightly sick and feeling as though his head and arms were very, very heavy.  
"Ow..."  
"Awake I see?"  
Joe opened his eyes, blinking dazedly.  
Then he realised that he was hanging upside down from the ceiling.  
"AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!"  
He began struggling and kicking but stopped very quickly as he realised that (a) the floor below him was a very, VERY long way away and (b) the floor below him consisted of very, VERY sharp rocks.  
"Stop making that revolting noise," the strange voice hissed.  
Joe twisted his aching head round to see the speaker. Then he screamed again.  
One half of the cavern was filled with a very, VERY large snake. It was beautiful in an art gallery sort of way. It had glittering, iridescent green and golden scales with big red-purple eyes.  
And very white teeth. Very long, sharp white teeth.  
And it was about the size of a jumbo jet.  
It took a great deal of self-control and a remembrance of a fear of looking stupid and cowardly in front of other people that stopped Joe wetting his pants.  
Instead, he screamed again.  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
The snake simply stared at him until he stopped. Then it moved closer.  
"How boring," he said "Trust my sisters to take the best children. I hope the Child of Love and Sincerity is better than you. Still..."  
He glided nearer.  
"Put me down!" Joe yelled "Put me down NOW!"  
"Put you down?"  
Joe didn't like the way that sounded.  
"On flat ground slowly and carefully!" he said.  
"Oh don't be silly."  
The snake's forked tongue flickered over him. Joe grimaced.  
"Oh ew...."  
"Oh shut up."  
Then something happened. Joe wasn't sure what. But suddenly the world seemed to crash down around his ears. He gave one last hoarse scream, then passed out.  
  
End of Part 8.  
  
Review. Review. Review. If you don't give me a suitable number of reviews, I won't carry on. Review. Now. 


	9. Realisation

Fire and Ice  
Realisation  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon OR the Norse Gods.  
Wow, this fics almost been going for a year! I really have to get a move on!  
I really hate this story.  
  
"How much further?" Matt muttered.  
"I'm sure we'll be there soon," Sora said soothingly.  
She wasn't. They'd been flying for hours and so far, they hadn't seen any of the others. And she was worried about Matt. He had been steadily getting woozier and he was only just managing to hang on to Birdramon's leg. Sora didn't know why and she was worried.  
"It's going to be okay," she said soothingly "I'm sure we're nearly there."  
Matt nodded, tightening his grip.  
"I feel sick," he muttered.  
"I know," Sora said "But you look okay. Just hold on okay?"  
Matt nodded. Sora sighed and shifted Tsunomon on her lap. When Matt had first started getting woozy, she'd grabbed Tsunomon off him in case Matt dropped him. She looked around unhappily.  
'Where ARE you guys?'  
  
* * * *  
  
"How's Kari doing?"  
Izzy sighed.  
"Exactly the same as she was two minutes ago," he said "Still asleep."  
Tai ran his fingers roughly through his hair. Kari looked a little better. Her cheeks were pinker.  
"I hope there others are okay," he muttered.  
"I'm sure they are," Izzy said.  
Ken and Davis sat a little way away, watching silently.  
"Tai, she's fine," Davis said "Look at her, she's okay, she's fine."  
"Yeah," Tai said weakly.  
He couldn't help worrying. A vague nausea was gnawing at his stomach and his head kept spinning. Not only that, he was frightened.  
He sat down with a thump and rested his head in his knees. Ken leaned over and gently patted his shoulder.  
"Tai, I know that it's all going to be all right," he said "We've been through worse."  
Tai nodded.  
"I hope Joe's okay."  
"I think he is," Izzy said, not looking up from Kari.  
"I hope you're right," Tai said.  
"TAI! GUYS!"  
Startled, Tai looked up.  
"Sora! Matt!"  
Birdramon landed with a thump and Sora ran towards them.  
"Kari! Is she okay?"  
"We think so," Tai said "Matt?"  
Matt was still leaning limply against Birdramon's leg. He looked in the direction of Tai's voice and smiled limply.  
"I'm great," he said.  
The nausea in Tai's stomach had increased. He moved uncertainly towards Matt.  
"You look sick."  
"I feel sick," Matt muttered "TK?"  
Sora looked around and frowned.  
"Where are the others? What's happened?"  
Tai swallowed.  
"Something attacked," he said "Big snake-dude. It kidnapped Joe. Mimi, TK, Iori and Yolei had gone to rescue him. If they can."  
"Big snake-dude," Sora said slowly "Jourmungardmon."  
"Yeah," Tai said "I'm guessing. What are you lot doing back?"  
"Helmon attacked us," Sora said "We've found out some important stuff."  
"Like how to kill them?" Tai asked.  
"We defeated Helmon," Sora said "She's not dead but she was defeated. Tai...they're gods!"  
"Gods!"  
Sora relayed what she and Matt knew.  
"Of course!" Izzy said "Norse Gods! I knew that! Loki - he was the God of Fire and Tricks. Fenrir, Hel and Jourmungard were his children."  
He frowned.  
"Fenrir was a male though."  
Nobody else particually cared about the helpful lesson.  
"The others!" Davis said "They're going after Joe! They'll never defeat him alone!"  
"We have to follow them."  
They all looked round. Kari was sitting up.  
"I'm fine," she said before anyone could say anything "The others may not be. I think we should go."  
"Hang on a second," Ken said "What about Matt? He can't see, he's sick."  
"I can stay back," Matt said "Tsunomon can take care of me."  
"We can't just leave you alone here!" Tai said.  
"I'll be fine Tai."  
"No!" Tai said fiercely "I'm not going to just leave you alone here! No!"  
"Tai, we don't have a choice!"  
There was an awkward pause.  
"Kari, stay with him," Tai ordered tersely "You're still too sick to help. The rest of you - come with me."  
There was a moments pause. Then they did.  
"We'll wait for you," Kari called as they left. She crawled over to Matt and touched his clammy forehead anxiously.  
"How are you feeling?" she asked.  
"Strangely better," Matt said with a smile "God I hate being this weak."  
"There's nothing wrong with sometimes being weak," Kari said quietly.  
"It feels that way to me," Matt said.  
Kari rubbed his forehead again.  
"Matt, I know this'll be okay soon," she said "Just you wait."  
She looked after the others and bit her lip.  
'I just hope that everything works out okay for everyone else' she added mentally.  
  
* * * *  
  
"This looks like the end of the line," TK said.  
They were standing at the edge of a steep cliff that dropped into the sea.  
"It must have taken Joe down there," Iori said slowly.  
"Into the sea?" Yolei suggested.  
Mimi bit her lip.  
"TK, go and check out near the bottom," she said "If it's safe, the rest of us will follow you."  
TK nodded.  
"Patamon?"  
Patamon armour-digivolved into Pegasusmon and TK sprang on board. They dropped down.  
"Hey!" TK yelled "There's a tunnel here!"  
Everyone looked at each other.  
"What are we waiting for?" Iori asked. He was already lowering himself down.  
"Don't be crazy," Mimi said, grabbing him "You can't just lower yourself down like that! And we can't just wander down a tunnel, we don't know what might be there!"  
"Joe!" Iori snapped "You don't have to come but I'm going!"  
Mimi and Yolei looked at each other. Iori was normally so cautious. It was a little scary to see him so reckless.  
"Let's go then," Mimi said "TK! Come up here and grab Iori! Yolei? Digivolve up Hawkmon would you? And Palmon?"  
Palmon nodded and in a moment, Lillymon was hovering there, smiling cheerfully. In a few moments, they were hovering around the tunnel entrance. Mimi licked her lips nervously.  
"Let's go," she said.  
They flew down the corridor. Mimi clung to Lillymon's shoulders, biting her lip nervously. She really, really didn't think this was a good idea at all.  
"Look!" Iori whispered, pointing.  
The tunnel was opening up into a huge cave. Mimi gestured for them all to stop.  
"Lillymon and I will go and look," she said softly "You lot wait here."  
They flew to the entrance and peered inside nervously.  
The cave was huge. It had to be.  
For a moment, Mimi didn't realise what she was staring at. She thought it was a pile of very smooth, slightly shimmery rocks, made into a sort of wall. Then she realised what it was.  
It was the bulk of a long, very large snake.  
Mimi gulped.  
"Lillymon? Move up a little. I can't see over the snake."  
Lillymon fluttered up a little, frowning. Mimi peered closer into the darkness.  
The snake was curled around a floor of spiky rocks. The ceiling was equally as spiked. The snake's head was raised, but with it's back to Mimi. It moved slightly as she watched.  
Joe was hanging from the ceiling.  
"Back to the others," Mimi whispered.  
"Right," Lillymon agreed.  
They flew back to the others and explained what was happening.  
"What do we do now?" TK asked.  
"Distraction!" Iori said promptly "We should distract Jourmungardmon and the others can rescue Joe."  
"That'll never work," Mimi said slowly "That snake must have thought of that. He'll be expecting a distraction. Besides, you don't know how big it is. We'll never manage that."  
"Then you think of something!"  
"Iori, will you calm down?" Mimi snapped "I'm trying to think."  
There was a pause. Mimi closed her eyes, biting her lip. She really, really needed to think of something. They couldn't just leave Joe there but they couldn't just burst in. They needed a plan.  
"Digmon!" she said suddenly "If Armadillomon becomes Digmon, he can burrow under Jourmungardmon and make the floor cave in beneath him. Hopefully, that will give us enough time to grab Joe."  
Everyone nodded.  
"Okay. TK and Yolei, you two wait near the tunnel entrance. When Digmon's finished, go straight back to the others. Lillymon and I will grab Joe."  
"Did he look okay?"  
Mimi frowned.  
"I think he was okay," she said quietly "I don't know though. He was too far away."  
Iori swallowed.  
"Let's go," Mimi ordered "Iori, Armadillomon? You're up."  
She and Lillymon went back to hovering by the cave entrance. Jourmungardmon was still lying there, unmoving, watching Joe. Mimi watched him unhappily.  
"Hang in there Joe," she whispered, then smacked herself at the stupid statement.  
It seemed to take an age before the ground suddenly buckled beneath Jourmungardmon. He gave a screaming noise as he tumbled.  
"Lillymon!"  
Lillymon shot forwards, Mimi clinging on.  
"Joe!"  
Joe's eyes flickered open slightly.  
"Mimi?"  
Mimi looked at what Joe was hanging from. It appeared to be some sort of liquid.  
"Lillymon, can you get him loose?"  
The flower-Digimon grinned.  
"Wipe it off Mimi!" she ordered "I'll catch Joe!"  
Mimi frantically rubbed her hands over the liquid. To her amazement, it came straight off onto her hands. Joe screamed as he nearly fell. Lillymon grabbed him.  
"Hold on tight Mimi!"  
Mimi gripped. Or tried to. Her hands were numb. Then Jourmungardmon reared up.  
"Digidestined!" he spat "You little fools!"  
"Flower Cannon!" Lillymon shouted.  
Jourmungardmon snarled as the attack hit him. Lillymon flew straight towards the exit as fast as she could. Jourmungardmon whipped round faster than anything Mimi had ever seen, his neck and head now blocking the exit.  
"Little flower-petal!" he spat "You would aim to remove my prey from me?"  
Lillymon glowered. Mimi swallowed.  
"You leave us alone!" she shouted "Don't you dare try to hurt Joe again or I'll make you sorry!"  
Jourmungardmon laughed, revealing long fangs. Joe whimpered.  
"I mean it!" Mimi shrieked "You come any closer and I'll pulverise you!" Lillymon looked slightly doubtful over this but was obviously squaring herself up for a fight, rearranging Joe in her arms. Joe was holding on as tight as possible but he was showing the same symptoms as Kari, weakness, sickness and the beginnings of fever were already showing on his face. Jourmungardmon leaned in.  
"You are powerless against me flower-petal," he said "If it weren't for the fact that Bartlebimon would be very angry if I killed you, I would swallow you now. As it is..."  
He swiped at them. Lillymon dodged. Mimi nearly fell off her back. Her hands HURT.  
"Little flower-petal blowing the breeze!" Jourmungardmon laughed. He lunged again, then stopped. For a moment Mimi was confused until Jourmungardmon shrieked in pain and jerked away and she saw Digmon. Iori was standing behind him, jumping up and down and shouting bravely at Jourmungardmon, obviously pretending not to be scared. Lillymon shot out of the entrance and down the tunnel.  
"Iori!" Mimi shrieked.  
"Mimi! Joe!"  
She blinked. The Digidestined - bar Kari and Matt - were gathering at the entrance. Lillymon flew down.  
"Mimi are you okay?"  
That was Sora. Her eyes anxious, she helped Mimi off Lillymon's back, then blinked.  
"Mimi! Your hands!"  
Mimi looked at her hands. They had strange blue tinges on them.  
"I had to free Joe," she explained "This liquid stuff...I think..."  
"No time!" Tai said tersely "We need to go NOW."  
"But Iori!" Mimi began.  
"That's what I meant!" Tai said "These Digimon are gods. Iori can't handle this alone. Come on gang!"  
The Digimon were already fully digivolved up. They headed down the tunnel at a rapid pace. Mimi would have followed Lillymon but Sora grabbed her arm.  
"No!" she said firmly "Your hands need tending to."  
"Not now!" Tai snapped "We don't have time for anything right now. We need to get ready to run as soon as we've got Iori!"  
Mimi and Joe had to be helped climb up the stiff cliff face. There was a path there that hadn't been there before.  
"Where's this come from?" Mimi asked.  
"Stingmon made it," Sora explained "We didn't have time - woah!"  
The ground was heaving beneath their feet. Jourmungardmon suddenly exploded out of it, wooshing up into the sky to made a huge tower.  
"INFIDELS!" he roared.  
Lillymon squeezed out from the hole he'd made. The other smaller flying Digimon were doing the same thing. Mimi supposed that the others would be coming back through the tunnel.  
If they weren't dead.  
"You dare attack ME in my cave!" Jourmungardmon thundered "I will crush you like ants!"  
"Just you try!" Tai yelled "We aren't afraid of you!"  
"Speak for yourself!" Joe muttered. He was half unconscious, supported by Izzy and Davis but he was obviously conscious enough to know that Tai was talking nonsense again. Tai ignored Joe completely, glaring at Jourmungardmon.  
"Tai's right!" Davis yelled "We'll fight you every step of the way!"  
Jourmungardmon seemed to frown. Suddenly he vanished back into the earth.  
"This isn't the end Digidestined!"  
"He's gone!" Izzy said, looking startled.  
"Maybe not for long," Tai said grimly "Come on! Hurry!"  
They set off for the place where they'd left Kari and Matt at a run.  
  
* * * *  
  
Matt was dozing uneasily when they got there. Kari was awake and talking to Gatomon and Gabumon. She waved when she saw them and stood up.  
"Tai!"  
Tai gave his sister a hug, then looked at Matt.  
"He's fine," Kari said quickly "He's just weak is all. He's napping."  
TK dived over and hugged his brother. Matt started from his sleep, alarmed, but grinned when he heard the familiar voices around him.  
"Hey TK."  
"Can you see me?" TK asked hopefully.  
"No," Matt said "But I'm feeling much better - or I will be when you stop choking me!"  
TK giggled and let his brother go. Izzy was busy going round applying the antidote to Joe. He looked at Mimi's hands, then gave her some of the anitidote.  
"We're running low on this," he said quietly "I don't like it."  
"We should move on from here," Tai said "The Gods know we're here."  
"Gods!" TK said, startled.  
Tai had forgotten that he didn't know. He quickly filled Mimi, Yolei, TK and Iori in on the situation.  
"That sucks!" Yolei said "We'll never win if they're Gods!"  
"We beat Helmon!" Sora said "And Jourmungardmon retreated."  
"But we've not killed any of them!" Tai said.  
Yolei and Iori both winced. They understood the necessities but neither liked it. Yolei still protested if anyone even hurt the Digimon. It annoyed Tai sometimes. You did what you had to do and if that was killing the Digimon to stop them destroying the world, then that's what you did. Davis had never seemed to show any particular problems with doing what had to be done, Ken hadn't either. Kari and TK had been in the old Digidestined, in the days when they hadn't understood. It was just Yolei and Iori who caused problems. And Mimi sometimes. Tai personally didn't have any such problems. It was simple to him. If the Digimon were going to cause harm and perhaps destroy whole worlds, then they had to be stopped. It was that simple.  
He was opening his mouth to say this much to them when he heard Matt saying distinctly.  
*And now Yolei and Iori are going to freak and Tai will shoot his mouth off and we'll all end up arguing again. Great.*  
"Hey!" Tai snapped "That was uncalled for!"  
"Huh?"  
Everyone looked at him confusedly. Matt didn't react at all. Tai frowned.  
"What was uncalled for?" Sora asked.  
"What Matt just said!" Tai said.  
"I didn't say anything," Matt said.  
"But I heard you!" Tai protested "I heard you talking..."  
He frowning, thinking. When they'd been being attacked...he'd heard Matt's voice in his mind. Or he'd thought he had...  
"Matt," he said "This is going to sound freaky but I want you to think something okay? Like a phrase or a word...something like that."  
Matt's forehead creased but he did as Tai instructed. Tai strained himself, listening. He didn't hear anything.  
'Rats' he thought 'I'm going insane.'  
"Too right you are," Matt muttered dryly.  
"WHAT?" Sora demanded.  
"Huh?" Matt said.  
"What's going on?" Izzy asked patiently.  
"I heard Matt's thoughts!" Tai said "I couldn't just then but he heard mine!"  
"I didn't!" Matt said "I can't have done!"  
"What did I just say then? Which made you say 'too right'?" Tai demanded.  
"You said you were going insane," Matt said.  
"No he didn't," Sora said quietly "Tai didn't say anything like that."  
There was a long pause.  
"Tai and Matt can hear each others thoughts?" TK said at last "How'd that happen?"  
"How curious," Izzy muttered. He was already drifting off into the little Izzy-dream-world he lived in when he was trying to have theories. Tai groaned.  
"Let's get moving people!" he said sharply "We can figure this out later. Let's go, go, go."  
They set off, Matt being helped by Sora while Mimi helped Joe. Tai walking in front, frowning.  
He could hear Matt's thoughts. Matt could hear his. Sometimes at least.  
Tai did not like that at all.  
  
* * * *  
  
"What do you think it is Ken?"  
Ken looked at Davis. Davis was walking along beside him, hugging the dozing Chibimon to his chest.  
"What is?" Ken asked.  
"Matt and Tai being able to hear each others thoughts?"  
"I don't know," Ken said "How should I know that?"  
"You know everything," Davis said, giving his friend a sly sideways grin.  
Ken rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever Davis," he said "I don't know this. I've never heard of anything like it before."  
"I think it's DNA Digivolving."  
Ken looked at Davis properly. Davis was frowning pensively but looking like he was serious about his idea.  
"Why?" he said "Matt and Tai don't DNA Digivolve."  
"They did once," Davis said "On the Internet remember?"  
"I remember," Ken said slowly "But why should that have anything to do with this."  
"Ken when Ex-Veemon and Stingmon DNA Digivolve, I can hear your heart beating," Davis said quietly "That's like hearing thoughts right?"  
"I guess..." Ken said slowly. He frowned.  
"No it isn't," he said "Anyone can feel your heartbeat just by feeling your pulse. Your thoughts...no one can feel your thoughts. It's just not possible, even with DNA Digivolving."  
"Oh so suddenly you're an expert?" Davis muttered. He looked sulky, probably because Ken had stepped on his idea.  
"Hey a minute ago you said I should know all the answers," Ken teased gently "Now you're suggesting I don't. What's it going to be?"  
Davis scowled.  
"Ken I think it's possible!" he said "Sometimes...I know what you're thinking!"  
"Everyone can do that," Ken said "If you're close enough to a person - close enough friends I mean - you can work out what they're thinking."  
"NO!" Davis said angrily "I mean exact thoughts!"  
"Davis, that's silly," Ken said.  
"Why are you so anxious to crush this idea?"  
"It's not that!"  
"Yes it is!"  
Not thinking about their surroundings the two boys stopped and glared at each other. Davis was scowling.  
"You just don't like it 'cause I had this idea!" he accused Ken angrily "You're just jealous."  
"Rubbish!" Ken snapped "It's nothing like that!"  
"Then why are you so determined to tell me my idea is rubbish?  
Ken turned his face away. How could he explain to Davis that it was because he didn't like where the idea was going to take them. If Matt and Tai could mind-speak because they'd DNA Digivolved once a very long time ago then it meant that Ken and Davis should be able to mind-speak. Davis would be able to hear his thoughts. Davis would be inside his mind. All Ken's secrets...things about Osamu he'd never told anybody. Things he'd done as the Kaiser that he'd never told anyone...any lies he'd ever told. Uncovered. What if it worked that way? He'd loose everything that made him...well him.  
"Ack!"  
He'd forgotten Davis was waiting for an answer. Impatient, Davis was making annoying noises. Ken sighed.  
"Davis, it's not jealousy okay?" he said "I just...don't like it."  
"Why?"  
Ken shook his head wordlessly. How could he possibly explain this to Davis?  
"Forget it," he muttered "Just tell Izzy and he'll agree or disagree, I don't care."  
He turned and blinked.  
"Er...where did the others go?"  
Davis looked round too.  
"Oh."  
They were completely alone. None of the others were anywhere in sight.  
"Oops," Ken said "They must have gone this way. Come on!"  
Davis didn't move.  
"Come on Davis!" Ken said impatiently "It's not safe here."  
Davis still didn't move. Ken looked at him and frowned. Davis's eyes were completely blank and he looked....confused.  
"Davis? Dai? What's wrong?"  
"I'm what's wrong Kindness!"  
Ken whipped round. Fenrirmon was crouched there.  
"Come here CourageFriendship," she murmured "Come here."  
Davis blinked. To Ken's horror, he took a faltering step forward.  
"No! Davis, what are you doing?"  
"I...I can't help it," Davis said, not sounding worried, just dreamy and vague "I have to obey."  
"NO!"  
Ken grabbed his friend, knocking Chibimon out of his arms.  
"Minomon! Chibimon! Quick!"  
Minomon digivolved up immediately but Chibimon shook helplessly, unable to Digivolve while Davis was in this state. Ken gave Davis a shake.  
"DAVIS!"  
Fenrirmon smiled her wolf smile and stepped towards them calmly.  
"There's no point," she said to Ken "I'm going to drain everything from you and I'm going to take your little friend away from you and you can't stop me."  
"My friends will stop you!" Ken shouted.  
"They aren't here."  
Ken wanted to kick himself for being a fool. Why, why, WHY had he let himself and Davis get separated from the group? He pulled Davis back with him and shook him.  
"Davis!"  
There wasn't even a twitch. Fenrirmon leaped towards them and was intercepted by Stingmon. Ken knew that Stingmon could hold her for long and pulled Davis back into the undergrowth, still shaking him.  
"Dai-chan please snap out of this! Please!"  
He heard Stingmon roar with pain then Fenrirmon's voice saying silkily "Kindness? CourageFriendship? Come on out wherever you are..."  
Davis tugged at Ken's arms, trying to escape. Desperate, Ken closed his eyes and thought at Davis with all his strength.  
[DAVIS!]  
Davis twitched in his grip. The blank look was replaced by one of confusion.  
"Ken?"  
Ken shushed him but too late. Fenrirmon knocked the foliage, sending them both flying. As Ken struggled up, Fenrirmon reached him, planting her paw firmly on his middle.  
"Stand still CourageFriendship!" she snapped "I'll deal with you in a minute!"  
She looked down at Ken.  
"You've been a pain," she said very softly "But now that's over. You're mine."  
"No!" Ken gasped, trying to wriggle away "NO!"  
Fenrirmon closed her eyes, her claws digging into him. Ken repressed a cry of pain.  
[Davis help me! DAVIS!]  
He didn't realise he was still thinking it until a faltering voice replied.  
[I....I don't know how. I can't move. Ken-chan....]  
The voice sounded like Davis but there was something fundementally different about it which was hard to explain. It gave Ken a feeling like the taste of oranges and the glow of the sun on bare skin.  
[Davis...we're TALKING.]  
To Davis, Ken's mind-voice felt like the taste of milk and spearmint toothpaste. It was stupid thinking about a sound feeling like a taste but it did.  
[I know. Ken, try and escape!]  
Ken couldn't. His body was inexplicably limp. Terror and confusion was running over him in waves, paralysing him with every bad thing, every little bit of pain that he'd ever experienced. He cried out hoarsely, then began crying helplessly. He hated crying in front of people but he couldn't help it. He could feel something being drained from him and with every bit that was drained, more pain filled him.  
[Davis...]  
Then he fainted.  
Davis stood there, crying helplessly. He was trying to move his legs but they just wouldn't move. They felt like rocks, cemented to the floor. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything, anything...  
Fenrirmon removed her paw. Blood ran from the tiny wounds on Ken's body. He lay unmoving, silent. Unbreathing?  
"What have you done?" Davis screamed at her "If you've killed him, I swear I'll...."  
"You'll what?" Fenrirmon enquired "Kill me? Yes I'm sure."  
She put her face to his. Davis shook with fear and loathing.  
"You won't be capable of doing anything when Bartlebimon is done with you," she whispered "You think I'm powerful? Just wait."  
Then she lifted him - almost gently Davis thought muzzily - in her jaws and ran with great strides. All Davis could do was stare helplessly at Ken's limp body until it was no longer in sight any more.  
  
End of Part 9. 


	10. Visionary

Fire and Ice  
Visionary  
By the Empress of the Eclipse  
  
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or the Norse Gods.  
  
"This'll do," Tai said "I can't walk any further anyway."  
There were several moans of exhausted agreement. They hadn't found any particularly suitable shelter so Tai had kept them all going far past their endurance points. This was the best shelter they'd found and it wasn't much. Two trees had grown interlocked together, forming a sort of canopy for them to sit under. Tai sat down with a thump and heard the others doing the same around him. The Digimon gathered some wood together, Sora ringed it with stones and Agumon puffed out a Pepper Breath, lighting the fire which flickered merrily, illuminating their tired faces.  
"How's Joe?" Tai asked.  
"I'm great," Joe said "A little queasy...terrified of heights for the rest of my life...and scared of snakes...but I'm great though!"  
There were several tired giggles. Tai risked looking at Matt. Matt was rubbing his eyes futily, almost as though he was trying to remove contact lenses that didn't exist.  
"Don't Matt, you'll make them sore," Tai said automatically.  
"So what?" Matt said moodily "I can't see anything out of them anyway."  
"It'll hurt," Tai said "You might be blind, at least you aren't in pain."  
*Yet.*  
Tai jumped slightly, hearing Matt's words distinctly in his head. Now he knew what it was, he didn't really know how he'd ever mistaken it for Matt's real voice. It sounded like it but there was something completely different in it. Almost a feeling....  
It was the strangest thing but to Tai it felt/sounded like the noise water would make being slowly frozen into ice.  
He didn't say anything about what he'd heard but Izzy had seen him jump and it reminded him of what had been happening.  
"Was that that....thing again?" he asked.  
"I guess," Tai said unhappily.  
Everyone was looking at him now and glancing towards Matt. Tai was struck with a feeling of something being fundamentally wrong but before he could focus, Izzy was talking.  
"You ought to try again," he said "Tai, close your eyes and talk to Matt."  
Tai sighed and obeyed. He wasn't sure how to begin. He tried conjuring an image of Matt in his mind and imagining words going directly into Matt's ears. Matt didn't respond.  
"This isn't working," Sora said eventually.  
"Maybe they're trying too hard," Joe suggested "Tai, just act natural. Think naturally."  
*How the hell do you think naturally?* Tai wondered irritably.  
"Hey, I heard that!" Matt yelped.  
"Tai, do whatever you just did again!" Izzy ordered.  
Tai wanted to punch him. Once someone had said that, it was impossible. He didn't KNOW what he'd just done, he'd just thought...  
*Tai can you hear this?*  
There was that strange frozen ice feeling again.  
*Try and answer in your mind. Just...don't think about me. Think of the answer. That's how I'm doing it anyway.*  
Tai swallowed.  
*Thinking an answer now.*  
"I heard him!" Matt said "I can answer back!"  
"This is freaky!" Mimi said "I mean, being able to talk to each others minds? It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone!"  
"The Digiworld has ALWAYS been like an episode of the Twilight Zone," Kari pointed out.  
"But it's getting worse!" Mimi moaned.  
"Tell me about it," Tai said with a shudder "I don't want my private thoughts privy to all and sundry!"  
"They aren't," Matt said irritably "I can only hear what you send at me and now you know how, you can control it."  
Tai scowled, knowing Matt couldn't see his scowl. He didn't like this idea at all. It meant he was closer to Matt, the person he was trying to pull away from.  
Now that the actual thought was voiced in his mind, it bothered him. He wasn't trying to pull away from Matt was he? Not really. He just didn't want...didn't want Matt to get the wrong idea. That was all.  
"Could this be something to do with the Gods?" Sora was saying.  
"Undoubtedly," Izzy said "But why would they give any of us extra powers? It doesn't make any sense."  
"Can we all do it?" TK asked "That would be pretty cool."  
Tai blinked. He was surprised that Davis hadn't said that, he'd always wanted more super-hero powers from this stuff...  
He looked around.  
"Er...where are Davis and Ken?"  
There was a confused pause while everyone looked around as though expecting Davis and Ken to appear magically.  
"Uh oh," Mimi said.  
"We must have left them behind!" Tai said.  
"Oh I don't believe it, I'll kill both of them!" Yolei said "I'm not getting up again!"  
"You'll have to," Sora said with a sigh.  
"Can't Birdramon or Patamon fly up and look over the trail?" TK suggested.  
"It's not safe to split up, we know that," Sora said "The Gods always take advantage of that. We'll just have to go back for them."  
"But they'll probably just catch up!" Yolei whined.  
"What if they're in trouble?" Iori said, standing up miserably "We can't risk it Yolei. We have to go back."  
"I'm going to murder both of them," Yolei muttered, scrambling to her feet.  
Before they started walking again, Iori made them some makeshift torches out of the fire. It would last them a little while so they wouldn't have to walk in the dark. They slowly walked along the already walked path, each privately deciding on the horrible tortures that s/he would inflict on Davis and Ken when they found them.  
They would have missed the place all together if Matt hadn't stepped on something squishy. Being unable to see it made him all the more worried and he yelped.  
"What's wrong?" Tai demanded.  
"I stepped on something," Matt said, a little sheepishly.  
"Oh for crying..." Tai began irritably but Kari interrupted him.  
"It's Minomon!"  
Minomon was crumpled on the path, huddled up in a weak little ball. He hadn't stirred when Matt stepped on him, he didn't stir when Kari lifted him up.  
"Ken?" she shouted "Davis?"  
"Don't shout, you'll bring them here!" Iori said.  
The torches were dying down now and it was hard to see. Agumon made another fire in the middle of the trail. It was rather dangerous but at least they had to light to see by. It was immediately apparent that there had been a fight. The terrain had looked nothing like that before.  
"I can't believe we would have missed this if Matt hadn't found Minomon!" Yolei said.  
"It's easy to make mistakes in the dark," Joe said.  
"Yes, but this - "  
"I've found Ken," TK said quietly.  
Ken's face was white with blue tinges. He didn't move when TK shook him, or when Joe tested his pulse and breath or even when Izzy - seeing the cuts - hastily tipped the last drops of the antidote down his throat.  
"He's alive anyway," Joe said.  
"Where's Davis?" Kari whispered.  
There was no sign of Davis anyway. They hunted around, even calling for him softly. Mimi knelt by Ken, ignoring her aching hands and gently tried to revive him. He didn't move at all. His eyes weren't even flickering.  
"It's like the life's been sucked out of him!" Yolei said tearfully. She was obviously regretting threatening to kill Davis and Ken only twenty minutes earlier.  
"We can't find Davis anywhere," TK said grimly "We found Chibimon though. He's unconscious too."  
"Why were they so far behind?" Tai asked bitterly "We're supposed to stick together!"  
Joe pressed a hand to Ken's forehead.  
"He's got a temperature," he said quietly.  
"We gave him all the antidote we had," Izzy said grimly "There's nothing else now."  
"No one else get poisoned," Tai ordered with a sort of laugh.  
"We'll have to camp here," Sora said "Ken can't be moved far."  
They pulled Ken closer to the fire and set up watches. Tai took first watch, sitting silently and staring into the darkness.  
Everything was falling apart around them. Before, it had been hard but...it had never collapsed like this! They'd all been friends - well, for most of the time. And no one had got sick like this. Kari had got ill once but she'd recovered quickly and had been just fine. Matt had been able to see what was happening and help Tai along...  
Tai bent his head miserably. If he was honest, he knew that he was blaming Matt for all of this. It all seemed to start with Matt. That stupid night out by that stupid lake. Matt's stupid feelings. Tai's own stupid feelings...  
He blanked his thoughts quickly before anything could go any further and just sat there, staring at the darkness and hoping nothing would come out of it.  
  
* * * *  
  
Morning was a quiet affair. Ken didn't seem to have moved once in the night and no one could really face hunting for any sort of breakfast.  
"What are we going to do now?" Izzy finally asked.  
"Perhaps we should take Ken back to Gennai," Mimi suggested.  
"If he's even in the same place," Tai pointed out "He moves around a lot you know. And with those Gods around..."  
"Well we can't separate again," Sora said firmly "Every time that happens, everything goes wrong. We have to stick together."  
"We may have to separate," Yolei said quietly "Much as I hate it, these big creeps need taking down and even if Ken is sick, someone has to work on that."  
"Iz, what do you know about these Norse Gods?" Tai asked "Like, how do you kill them would be good."  
"I'm not sure," Izzy said slowly "In the myths, Fenrir was killed by Odin's son...cut up by a sword I think. Jormungard was destroyed by Thor's hammer. I don't think Hel was ever killed. Loki was killed by some guy called Hemindal or something like that. A sword again."  
"Well if they can be killed with a sword and a hammer, that shouldn't be too hard, right?" Kari said hopefully.  
"A gods sword. A gods hammer," Izzy said "We don't have either of those items."  
"Perhaps we could ask the Gods for help," Joe said "If these Gods can pop up from somewhere, maybe the others can."  
"How?" Izzy asked simply.  
That stumped them all.  
"Prayer?" Yolei suggested.  
"Seems like a stab in the dark to me," Izzy said shaking his head "And these Gods didn't come from prayer. They just arrived."  
"And who do we pray to?" Joe asked.  
"Odin was the king of the Norse gods," Izzy said "Frigg was his queen. Thor was the god of thunder. Freya was the goddess of death and fertility...Odin or Thor would probably be best."  
"Except that they probably can't hear us," Iori said.  
"Well I'm going to pray," Yolei said "Any sort of help would go down really well with me!"  
She moved a little way away and put her hands together, closing her eyes. Her lips began silently moving. Tai scowled with frustration.  
"Who's Bartlebi?" he asked suddenly.  
"That I don't know," Izzy said "I've never heard of a God using that name."  
Tai frowned.  
"That's weird."  
Suddenly the air was rent by a piercing scream. It was Ken. He was struggling on the floor, kicking out blindly. Joe and Tai quickly held him down to stop him hurting them as much as anything else.  
"Ken!" Yolei shouted "Ken, can you hear me?"  
"Stop her!" Ken shrieked "Stop her, stop her, stop her! Dai-chan!"  
He kicked again, his face twisted with a pained grimace. The others were adding their own support to holding him down. Yolei stroked his forehead gently.  
"It's all right Ken," she cooed softly "You're safe now. We're here. Don't worry about a thing. It's all right..."  
"Dai-chan!" Ken sobbed again. Yolei's approach seemed to be working though. He was slowly relaxing, not kicking as much.  
"We'll find him," Yolei promised "Don't worry Ken. We'll find Davis. Why don't you just wake up and talk to us hm? It's all okay, but we need to talk to you now so wake up. Come on. Wake up."  
Ken's eyes flickered open briefly. His eyes travelled over their faces and his limbs went limp suddenly. They backed away from him. A green blur shot past Tai, making him realise that Minomon had woken up.  
"I'm sorry Ken!" Minomon squeaked "I tried to stop her!"  
"S'okay," Ken mumbled "I know you did."  
Then he passed out again.  
"Well, he was awake," Sora said, trying to take heart in something "That's a good thing, right?"  
"When did he start calling him Dai-chan?" Yolei muttered.  
"What's wrong Yolei, scared Ken's going to turn out gay?" TK teased her "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just an...affectionate nickname!"  
"It probably is!" Yolei snapped "Don't jump to conclusions!"  
TK snorted.  
"Come on Yolei, Ken just screams 'gay!'"  
"No he does not!" Yolei said shrilly.  
"Look at him! He's practically Kari!"  
"TK, are you saying that I look like a lesbian?"  
"No, I'm saying he looks like a girl and therefore looks gay!"  
Matt turned his face away. He wished he couldn't hear this conversation. It was the last thing he wanted to hear. Had they all blanked out that he was gay? Was it something that they just wouldn't accept?  
It was something Tai hadn't accepted.  
Matt sighed. He couldn't think about this now. He had to just keep it all out of his mind. But it was so hard. Just being around Tai drove him crazy.  
'I should probably thank my lucky stars I can't see him!' he thought bitterly 'Otherwise I'd REALLY go crazy.'  
And now there was this mind talk thing. What the hell was that? How was it possible? And why, why, WHY did it have to be him and Tai? It was obvious that Tai didn't want to be around Matt. They just weren't friends any more. That was gone.  
"If we could get back to the ORIGINAL subject," Tai said loudly "Ken has now woken up. Which is probably a good thing. And how are we going to defeat the Gods?"  
Silence fell again. Matt blinked his sightless eyes, cursing his lack of vision that made interaction so much harder.  
"We'll just have to use all the strength we have," Joe said at last "We've defeated Helmon after all."  
"But never permanently!" Tai said.  
"Well Rome wasn't built in a day," Sora said "And we never used to win against the other Digimon we've faced in one battle either. We've faced some pretty awful defeats in our time if you care to remember them."  
"I block them out of my mind," Tai said dryly.  
Sora laughed, making Tai feel a little better. At least Sora still had her sense of humour.  
"I just hope Davis is all right," TK muttered, dampening the mood a great deal.  
"He is," Ken croaked.  
Everyone turned to stare at him. Ken was sitting up, his face pale and looking sick but healthier than before. Minomon was cuddled in his arms.  
"How do you know?" Tai asked.  
"I can feel it," Ken said tersely "We were talking...Davis thought that the reason Matt and Tai can read each others thoughts is because they DNA-Digivolved once. Then Fenrirmon attacked us. I managed to talk to Davis in his mind and he could answer me. Fenrirmon drained me and took Davis away...I don't know where or why. But that's where he is. I can feel that he's still alive and that he's frightened...but I can't talk to him any more. Maybe he's too far away...but I can't reach him!"  
He shivered and Yolei moved over and put an arm around him.  
"At least we know he's alive," she said comfortingly "That's the main thing, right?"  
Ken didn't look like he believed her.  
  
* * * *  
  
Davis opened his eyes to find himself crumpled on a stone floor. His body ached and he was too cold. He was lying in a huge stone room which was completely empty apart from himself. Slowly he sat up, trying to remember where he was.  
He'd been captured by Fenrirmon. She'd kil - no, hurt Ken, Ken couldn't be dead, he just couldn't - and taken him away. He'd fainted at some point from the motion and now he was here - wherever here was.  
[Ken? Ken-chan, can you hear me?]  
There was no answer. Davis could sense a buzzing feeling at the back of his mind and was positive that Ken was still alive - but what good was that if they couldn't talk?  
"Awake are you?"  
It was Helmon. She was looking annoyed.  
"Took you long enough to wake up," she said "Come on. Bartlebimon wants to see you."  
She lifted Davis by the arm and dragged him bodily from the room. Davis let himself be led, resisting half-heartedly and trying not to panic.  
"He's here!" Helmon sang out, pulling him into another room.  
This room was larger than his cell had been and lit by a cheery fire. Fenrirmon was lying beside the fire, curled up like an extra large dog, apparently asleep. Jourmungardmon's head was peering out of the shadows, glittering in the firelight. There were two other figures, hidden by the shadows that even the fire didn't penetrate.  
"That's the child of Courage and Friendship?" a pleasant voice said "Doesn't look like much does he?"  
Davis felt a wave of annoyance washing over him. Didn't look like much? What did this person think he was?  
Footsteps rang out over the floor and a man stepped from the shadows. Davis blinked. This wasn't what he'd really expected. When he'd found out that Lokimon and Bartlebimon were Gods, he'd expected...well, fierce fire God things. This man wasn't. He was quite tall and normal looking except that he was better looking than most people Davis knew. His hair was wavy and about the same colour as Izzy's, in a ponytail down his back. His eyes were brown and friendly looking and he was grinning a grin that Davis suddenly realised he often grinned, a grin that just screamed mischief. His clothes were pretty weird but not so weird as to scream out 'freak!' He was wearing a blue tunic with green and black leggings and a black cloak and boots. He didn't seem all that abnormal really. Or that scary.  
"Which one are you?" Davis asked, slightly ruder than he'd intended. Helmon gripped his shoulder painfully and he winced.  
"Lokimon," Lokimon said. He walked over and bent, staring into Davis's face "Perhaps there's more fire in you than I realised. Let him go Hel, Bartlebimon wants him in good condition."  
Helmon sniffed and released him. Davis fleetingly considered running but Lokimon reached forward and took his wrist.  
"Don't run away," he said "You won't get out and it'll make things far worse for you if you try."  
Davis shrugged.  
"How can it be worse?" he asked, trying to keep up his bravado "You're gonna kill me anyway, right?"  
"I'm not," Lokimon said, looking offended "You're Bartlebimon's!"  
"That helps," Davis said dryly.  
"Besides, he won't be killing you," Lokimon said comfortingly "He just wants your energy."  
"Oh great," Davis said weakly "Isn't that the same thing?"  
"No. He can keep you alive for years taking your energy!" Lokimon said "If he hadn't captured you, he'd have just killed you...like Jourmungard was going to do to Reliability if he hadn't been rescued. But we captured you, so we'll keep you somewhere and Bartlebimon will take your energy when he wants it."  
"Or he'll just kill you," Helmon predicted "I would."  
"You lack all finesse Daughter," Lokimon scolded her "I certainly don't intend to kill any of my three."  
"You mean you've shared us all out like sweets?!" Davis spluttered.  
"Certainly," Helmon said, seemingly taking a spiteful delight in telling him "I get Friendship and Knowledge. Fenrirmon gets Light and Kindness. Jourmungardmon gets Reliability and LoveSincerity. Father - Lokimon to you - gets Courage, Love and KnowledgeReliability. Bartlebimon gets Sincerity and Hope - and you of course."  
Davis kicked at her. Her spiteful tone enraged him and he wanted to kill her. His foot connected strongly with her fleshless knee, meaning he could actually see the bone going backwards, making his stomach twist nauseatingly. Helmon shrieked in rage and reached out for him. Davis instinctively cowered back against Lokimon, wanting support.  
"Helmon!"  
The voice that spoke was not Lokimon's. It sent chills down Davis's spine. Slowly, he turned to look.  
Another man had come out of the shadows, although whether he'd been there all along, Davis didn't know. His hair was short and black, his eyes a deeper brown than Lokimon's. His face was twisted in a dark frown and he was dressed in black and alternating shades of grey. The most unnatural thing about him however, was the set of huge snowy white wings that extended from his back. Davis felt a sudden wave of deep fear and cowered back even further.  
This had to be Bartlebimon.  
"Is this CourageFriendship?" Bartlebimon asked.  
"Yes," Lokimon said cheerfully "Don't be shy CourageFriendship. Say hello."  
"My name's Davis!" Davis croaked "And I'm not bloody shy!"  
He glowered at Bartlebimon, thinking that he'd rather face twenty Lokimon's that this guy. Bartlebimon walked over and leaned down like Lokimon had to stare into Davis's face.  
"More strength that he seemed to have at first glance," he said.  
Davis gulped.  
[KEN!]  
But Ken didn't answer. He could feel something in his mind. The buzzing had stopped, leaving just a feeling of anxiety, pain and fear. Ken was alive. But they couldn't speak to each other. Davis swallowed, feeling very alone.  
"My friends," he said "Where are they?"  
"Where Fenrirmon left Kindness," Lokimon said before Bartlebimon could speak "You didn't kill him very well Fenrirmon. He's still breathing."  
Fenrirmon flicked her tail drowsily and ignored him. Davis glowered at her, willing a spark to jump out of the fire and ignite her coat.  
The Bartlebimon rested a hand on Davis's head and the whole world twisted round. Davis wailed in pain, trying to pull away from Bartlebimon's hand but he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe and he was all alone...  
No. He wasn't alone, Ken there still out there...  
Davis kicked out with all his strength, screaming abuse at the God/Digimon before him, fighting furiously.  
"I told you he had strength!" he heard Lokimon laugh.  
"Take him back to his cell," Bartlebimon ordered "A little time alone will cure him of THAT."  
Davis was dragged kicking and screaming back to the stone cell. Lokimon pushed him inside.  
"We'll send you some food," he said comfortingly "The Digimon are out gathering it right now. Don't worry about your friends, we'll probably have put them out of their misery soon..."  
He closed the door, leaving Davis standing in the middle of his cell, trembling with rage, frustration and overwhelming fear.  
He was all alone. And he was in big trouble.  
  
* * * *  
  
Ken suddenly gave a wail of pain and doubled over.  
"Ken!"  
Yolei caught Ken's arms, trying to support him as Ken whimpered.  
"It hurts," he moaned "Oh God, it hurts us, it hurts us!"  
"Hurts us?" Tai said "What's he talking about?"  
"He means him and Davis," Sora said, her eyes anxious "The bond between them must be getting stronger. They're slowly becoming more like one."  
"Is that going to happen to all of us?" TK asked.  
Tai frowned. He looked at Ken who was relaxing slightly.  
"It was so cold," he said "Like...ice being pushed through me. And Davis...he was so sad!"  
"Tai, we have to work this out," Izzy said anxiously "Ken and Davis can feel each others pain now! We can't let that happen!"  
Tai blinked at him, confused. Izzy pulled his normal exasperated face.  
"If you start feeling Matt's pain," he said patiently "Not only would it distract you in battle, it would possibly incapacitate you! What if Matt's blindness started to affect you?"  
Tai hadn't thought of that. The idea of being blind completely terrified him. Watching Matt being led along by the others scared him, another reason that he avoided going near his once best friend.  
"But that hasn't happened!" he said "I can't feel Matt's pain! I never have!"  
He saw Izzy bite his lip slightly and knew that Izzy was holding something back. Before he could inquire into it, Izzy was speaking again.  
"I think we should move on," he said "We aren't safe here. We need to find a protected spot so we can practise these powers. If Ken and Davis and you and Matt can use them, chances are Yolei and Kari and Iori and TK have these powers too, and they ought to get practising. It might be a risk but it might also help us fight the Gods."  
"Right," Tai said.  
"Tai, you help Matt," Izzy ordered "I'll help Yolei with Ken."  
"Wha - ? But I don't want - "  
Izzy gave him a glower. Tai blinked.  
"Okay, okay! Sheesh!"  
He walked over to Matt who was staring off blankly.  
"Come on," Tai muttered "Let's get going."  
After a moment, he reached out and gripped Matt's hand. It remained cold and unresponsive in his grip, as though Matt was as reluctant for contact as Tai was.  
They all walked along slowly, Izzy in the lead. Ken appeared to be okay, he was walking normally at any rate. Either Matt and Tai were going especially slowly or the others were going extra fast; at any rate they'd all drawn slightly ahead of them. They were going upwards now, a steady up-hill path that kept getting steeper. Tai was having to help Matt over everything in the way, something he wasn't enjoying very much.  
"Can't you see anything at all?" he blurted "Not even...you know, light and stuff?"  
Matt's forehead creased in a frown. He was either thinking, or annoyed about the question. Tai couldn't tell which.  
"I can see different shades of black," Matt said eventually "Like when you have your eyes shut and then someone turns the light off and you know about it. It's like that."  
"Oh."  
Tai didn't know what else to say. They walked along in silence again.  
*You hate me don't you?*  
Tai jumped slightly at the voice in his mind.  
"No," he said out-loud, his voice sounding insincere to his own ears "I don't hate you. Not at all."  
*Liar.*  
The mental voice was accusing, betrayed.  
"I'm not a liar," Tai said "I don't hate you Matt! And talk out-loud will you? It's freaky when you do that!"  
*I don't want the others to hear.*  
It made sense. The others weren't that far ahead. And Matt didn't know they were ahead anyway. Tai sighed.  
"They're in front of us," he said "They can't hear if we whisper."  
Matt shrugged.  
"Whatever."  
They kept moving, Tai helping Matt across the path.  
"Do you think Davis is all right?" Matt asked suddenly.  
"Of course!" Tai said "He must be! Ken would know!"  
"Would you?"  
Tai went quiet. Would he know if Matt was hurt or dying? Would he feel it in his bones?  
He thought back to when they'd first been in the Digital World. All the different times they'd been in trouble - he'd always known when Matt was. When the Garbagemon had attacked them - he'd known something bad was happening to Matt. And then Matt had showed up and tried to fight him.  
Had Matt known when Piedmon was killing him? Had Matt felt it?  
He remembered the tears in Matt's eyes, his arms around Tai, strong but shaking just slightly, as though with exhaustion or pain.  
He'd known. He'd always known.  
*Would you even care?*  
The mental voice sounded deeply depressed. Tai had never heard anything sound so hopeless before.  
"Of course I'd care!" he exploded "Don't you ever say that Matt! I care for you! You're part of the team! I...I don't know what I'd do...if you weren't there..."  
The last part was a whisper. Tai was shaking, his hand gripping Matt's convulsively.  
"Tai...I'm so sorry..."  
"No," Tai whispered "I'm sorry. I've been such a jerk! About everything!"  
The path blurred and Tai realised he was crying. He struggled to wipe the tears away, swallowing.  
*Matt, I swear I won't let anything like this happen again* he said mentally, not trusting his real voice *We'll always be friends Matt. I promise.*  
"OW!" Matt yell caused everyone to whip round, convinced that they were either being attacked, or Tai and Matt were having another fight. Matt was kneeling on the ground and Tai was staring at him. "Are you two fighting AGAIN?" Izzy began, sounding annoyed.  
"No," Tai said "I swear!"  
"Matt, what's wrong?"  
TK had already rushed to Matt's side.   
"It's too bright!" Matt said "It hurts!"  
"Too bright? What's too bright?"  
"The sun!" Matt said "I...I can see again! But it HURTS!"  
"That makes sense," Izzy said "You've been in blackness for a while now. It probably would hurt a good deal."  
"Matt can see!" TK squealed "Matt can SEE!"  
"But how?" Joe said, looking confused "Eye sight doesn't come back all at once like that. It's not natural!"  
"This is the Digiworld," Iori pointed out "NOTHING is natural."  
"I need shade," Matt croaked "I can't see..."  
He laughed at that remark. TK carefully helped him to his feet.  
"We'll keep going," Izzy said "Tentomon said that he saw a grotto up ahead. There's a good view of the land around us so no one can sneak up on us. We can rest there for a while."  
Tai and TK both helping Matt (who had his eyes scrunched up from pain), they walked up the hill towards to grotto Tentomon had spied from the air.   
  
End of Part 10.  
  
Hey, I'm actually GETTING somewhere with this fic! A miracle! 


End file.
